


Coupon for One (1) Free Tea!

by Kiwi1234



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Iroh (Avatar) loves Tea, Jin doesn't know what the new firelord looks like lol, Post-War, Slow Burn, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, also undercover iroh bc he doesn't wanna deal w fame, ba sing se is EPIC, fame is a lot to handle ok, gaang stays on the DL in the city though, jin deserved the MOST, jin is the normal stable friend the gaang desperately needs after the bs they went through, man just wants to make tea, no one knows what the famous people look like bc photographs aren't widely available, the gaang adopts jin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:01:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25302751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiwi1234/pseuds/Kiwi1234
Summary: No one could guess who the new employee at the Jasmine Dragon was....or: Jin is literally just ~vibing~, and she runs into Lee from the tea shop again.
Relationships: Jin/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 101
Kudos: 481
Collections: avatar tingz





	1. Girl talk

**Author's Note:**

> hey there! this is my first fic but i feel like this is an AU I've been wanting to see so I figured I'd do it lol. Hope you enjoy, lmk your thoughts in the comments!

Jin hasn’t been this relaxed in months.

Technically, this is probably the most relaxed humanity has been in decades. The war was finally over, and by the power of the Spirits themselves Ba Sing Se was saved from being singed off the map last month. Anyone in the city could tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when the sky turned a fiery red with a summer heat grew beyond unbearable.

For Jin, she was reading in her bedroom after canceling plans with her friends. The city-wide curfew had been pushed earlier  _ again _ , although perhaps this time for a good reason. While Jin’s apartment didn’t have a view looking into the streets, she could hear it all. The fire, the yelling, the marching of troops and tanks.

The world really hadn’t experienced peace in so long, yet here she was. Sitting with two of her closest friends and eating take-out noodles on her friends’ apartment floor.

“Jin? Hello? Dude are you even looking?”

“...I think she’s thinking, Kiki. That, or maybe she just died. Right in front of our eyes.”

“Shut the fuck up Rena- JIN. SNAP OUT OF IT.”

Jin jumped at the commotion coming from the two girls. Yep, still sitting on Kiki and Rena’s living room floor, eating a bucket load of noodles. Jin put down the chopsticks she was fiddling with and began to readjust herself.

“Sorry sorry sorry. Nope! Was not dead! Just thinking about the world and how we can finally do things like this without worrying about some hothead yelling at us.”

That got both of them to smile, Rena even let out a surprised laugh as Kiki rolled her eyes and reshuffled the papers she had spread out around her. 

“Yeah, although not gonna lie, the officer stationed by here was pretty cute. I had a bet with Rena that I could dick him down. What did he tell you his name was again?”

“Sir Cheng, I believe. Speaking of which, I think it’s safe to say I fairly have won that bet considering we’ll never see him again, so you owe me like 20 copper.”

Kiki shrugged, “Eventually dude, but you and I both know he was an ass-man, if he had just gotten to see how dummy THICC I am, perhaps the situation would be different.” Her hand finally landed on one of the papers and she lifted it up to examine again, “Ah here is the dress I was looking for. Jin, check this dress out. Do you think I’d look cute in this?”

Kiki turned the picture towards Jin just as she stuffed her face again with the noodles. While chewing, she thoughtfully examined the dress. It was beautiful. A silky lavender with yellow flowers embroidered at the edges, including at the square-cut neck. The slit went up to the thigh on the left leg. Indeed, the dress was hot.

Jin finally finished chewing. “The dress is hot. You are hot. It’s perfect.”

“Ok yes, the dress and I are both hot, but the question is would  _ I  _ look hot while wearing the hot dress?”

“...I don’t see why not?” 

Rena piped in, “Just tell her the color would look good on her skin. She’s just insecure because the model is as pale as a goddamn ghost, and Kiki is just blessed to have an actually skin color.”

“BRUH Rena what the fu- ok fine yeah she hit the nail on the head.” Kiki threw the paper at Rena, who was still busy fishing out the last noodle that she almost let the page drown in the broth. “I don’t know what to tell you. Is my skin... too brown to rock lavender?”

“No. Next question”

“Wow! Thanks. But that question was for Jin, stupid”

“Call me crazy but I agree with Rena. This dress would really make you, like, mega hot. Also, the embroidery will bring out the gold in your eyes.”

“Really??? Oh, that’s a relief to know because I already bought it. Got a date tomorrow”

That took Jin off-guard, and by the looks on Rena, she also didn’t know.

“No way. Actually? Dude you better only be fucking in your room because I swear if I come to the kitchen and you guys are doing it on the couch I will cry. How did you even get to meet someone?”

“Yeah, who’s the guy?” Jin found herself asking after the initial shock went away. Dating wasn’t rare in the city, especially now that the war was over. It was like the whole city was vibrating with the excitement of being free once again. But this was the first time she’d heard of someone going on a date for  _ months. _

“Gentlemen relax. He’s the possum chicken egg vendor at the market. Well, the vendor’s assistant. I think his name is Po. Tall, kinda pointy ears, with real blue eyes. The bluest. Real cute. Anyways, yeah he asked me out. Obviously I’m gonna say yes I mean it’s probably been YEARS since I dated so why not.”

Jin could see Rena visibly relax, and so did she. Even if they weren’t all related biologically, there was a genuine bond that class-ditching and pranks over the years had built up, even more so with Kiki and Rena. Growing up they took the same route to their homes, and it’d be a lie if Jin said she wasn’t the teensiest bit jealous over their unbreakable bond. But hey, at least they loved her too.

“...either way, it’s a good thing you’re just getting tea with him. Say, if you’re going to Pao’s tea shop, maybe you should use that coupon Jin got from that tea boy. Not like she’s going back since he dipped.” That got both of them cackling as Jin blushed a deep red.

“Quit it! I wasn’t going there only for him! Their tea was great too.”

“Oh yeah? So why did you not go back after he left. What was his name again? Tau?”

“Nah, it was Lee. Also, I stopped going because his uncle left too, and he was the one making the great tea. Pao’s tea is shit again so the coupon isn’t even worth it.”

“Damn that sucks, I guess I’ll have to find another shop. Why’d they even leave? I thought Pao loved them. The old man, at least.”

“Apparently some upper ring scum poached the two of them. Offered ownership over a tea shop in the upper ring with an apartment included. They’d have to be idiots to refuse an offer like that. Probably still there now, making tea near the palace.”

Rena sighed “Ah yes, the cruel and infamous class structure of this fucking city. A real shame we can’t go and check out how they’re doing.”

“Yeah, maybe Jin can even use her coupon there and also finish that kiss she had going with Lee.” Kiki snickered. Jin just could not help her face from getting redder.

“I swear to the Spirits above you Kiki, I’m gonna learn how to chi-block one day specifically to prevent you from talking and also to chi-block my brain to forget that date ever happened.” That, of course, only got the other girls to laugh more.

“What, you serious? He was that bad?”

“I mean, yes and no. He was pretty awkward and weird, sure, but he was genuinely a sweet guy. I just mean me kissing him at the end was bad. Totally out of character for me! I mean you two know I never kiss on the first date. Look how uncomfortable I made him because I decided to break the rule”

“...that’s very true. Why’d you change it up on this date?”

Jin shifted unevenly in her seat. Oh boy, guess it’s time to explain this one with the least amount of detail possible. “Honestly? It’s kind of dumb, but it’s because he lit the Firelight Fountain for me.”

And there was the reaction. Both of their jaws straight up dropped. Jaws? Gone. Don't know them. Rena was the first to regain a sense of composure.“You’re kidding, right? That has to be a joke. That fountain takes like 3 hours to light.”

“Not kidding. It completely floored me at the time.” 

“This crush on tea boy makes a lot more sense when you remember to mention him lighting the entire fountain for you, you know. How could you leave out that detail?”

“It didn’t seem important at the time I guess?”

Conveniently, Kiki snapped out of the trance a Lee-lit lamp fountain created at this exact moment.

“No no no bitch no way. No wayyyyy. So, you’re telling me this man lit a whole fucking fountain for you, gave you a coupon for tea, and fucking  _ kissed you back _ when you gave him a peck???”

“Well yeah, until he jerked back, told me that it was complicated, and left.”

“Shit bro, that’s actually insane. Not in a bad crazy, but man if that’s not a fucking fever dream, I’m not sure what is. He must have really liked you or some shit. Sounds complicated as hell.”

“Exactly, why do you think I try to forget I made him uncomfortable? I wish I could’ve just remembered everything from the date before I kissed him. But hey,” she shrugged “I’m over it now”

“Your souvenir tea coupon from him suggests otherwise.”

“Shut the fuck up”


	2. Rose Petals? In this economy???

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The post-war journey with Jin continues. Notes will be at the end of the chapter!

As the sun passed high-noon and began its descent for the day, Jin said goodbye to her friends. With the lack of city-curfew, it was easier to do errands in the evening and night and use daylight to hang out with her friends. Especially since Kiki and Rena literally  _ never  _ bought enough lamp oil, which really should have changed now with trade between the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes opening up again. Either way, the agreement was: hang out with friends in the daylight, errands in the evening, and whatever else at night.

_ That’s not even including potential jobs I might take up,  _ Jin reminded herself, slightly shaking her head at the pressure of finding work soon. With the war over, small businesses have shifted significantly with the influx of soldiers returning home. When her boss’s daughter made it home from the front lines, Jin knew she was going to be let go. A shame really, the flower shop was beautiful and she loved to sit at the counter tending the flowers and making bouquets. But she understood. If her parents had returned to Ba Sing Se from the war she would’ve done anything to spend more time with them now. They weren’t dead, mind you, but they had sent a letter to Jin explaining that, with the changes taking place in the more rural parts of the Earth Kingdom where the Fire Nation had colonies, there was still plenty of work to do, and they wouldn’t return for a while. 

Jin walked towards the marketplace. The vendors’ shouts and clamor could be heard blocks away and the hustle and bustle of those around her really gave Jin a sense of being (and existentialism but we don’t talk about that). As Jin walked from vendor to vendor, finding the things she needed for the week, she constantly asked each one if they were hiring, beaming up at the faces with a twinkle (hopefully) in her eyes to help persuade. Majority shook their heads briefly and called for the next customer, but at a couple the vendor pulled out a flyer with hiring information and interview times.  _ Not bad. _

As Jin made it through the street, she spotted the booth that sold possum-chicken eggs, and saw the guy Kiki was going out with. He sat on his vendor stool, a small book in his hands that he was reading through while shouting answers to the customers asking questions about the eggs. He had a solid system in place where if you wanted a dozen eggs, you put the money in a box that made noise, and without lifting up his eyes, he could reach down and hand a carton to whoever put in money. It was a smart system, although there was no way for Jin to tell a difference in the payment people wanted, he somehow always knew.  _ Probably years of practice _ , Jin thought to herself. The guy was cute, she’ll give him that, and the thought of him and Kiki created an... interesting couple to say the least. She would have to ask Kiki how she had struck conversation with the dude.

By this time, Jin had almost everything for the week. The only thing missing was rose buds she had wanted to use to make a syrup. Usually she would just snag them from work, but as evident from the hiring flyers she carried in one hand, that would be a bit harder now considering she did not, in fact, work at the flower shop anymore.

The entire time at the market, she had kept an eye out for roses of any kind, but zilch. None of the vendors kept something as delicate as rose buds. That was more of a delicacy for the upper or middle ring, and the lower ring vendors often would just keep any floral ingredients for themselves if they came across it.

Or at least, most of them.

That’s when Jin spotted it. A cart with boxes  _ full  _ of rose petals. They were almost spilling out. Holy crap, who could be using so many roses here? Upon further examination, Jin noticed that the flowers were going into a nearby spa.  _ Funny, don’t think I’ve ever noticed that place before.  _ Jin thought as she walked closer,  _ if I can go in and ask whoever is working right now to buy some roses from them, that could work _ . 

Entering in, Jin was met with the scent of eucalyptus and rosemary, something that eased her almost immediately. The spa itself was fairly simple. Bamboo lined the walls and hid most of the spa from people entering. No one was at the front counter at the moment, so Jin took a seat on the bench in the waiting room. Looking around, Jin noticed specials on the walls. It seems like the place specialized in massages and aromatherapy. Voices from the back of the store began to get louder, and soon Jin could make out the voices.

“...I cannot thank you enough for sending me these flowers. Are you sure I can’t at least pay for the price to transport to the lower ring?”

“I’m afraid not, my good sir.. I insist you take these as a gift to your grand opening. Rose water is extremely healing for the skin and soul, so I’m sure you will find better use for the surplus than I would at the Jasmine Dragon.”

“Alright, Mushi. If you insist.”

Jin’s fidgeting froze at that.  _ Mushi? No way is that the same man. He’s been gone for months and there’s probably plenty of Mushis here in the lower ri- _

The two men emerged from behind the bamboo panel.

_ Nope. Ok, there is only one Mushi in all of Ba Sing Se.  _

* * *

Jin doesn’t date much.

Part of that of course is because there was a freaking war to deal with and refugee taxes were never gonna pay themselves. Instead of dates afterschool Jin went through the lower ring finding as many odd jobs as she could. Sometimes she’d even wear her best dress to sneak past patrols between the ring walls and find people in the middle ring to work for. 

But another reason was that the people Jin met never really interested her in a romantic way. Sure, some were cute and sweet to her, but it was on a conditional since they wanted her to like them. Jin tried to explain this once to Kiki and Rena, but it confused them.

“It’s not that they want you to like them back necessarily as a favor. Sometimes, yes. But I think treating you well is to demonstrate that they care for you, and what’s wrong with that?” Rena asked once while the three of them were on their way back to school a couple years ago.

“There’s nothing wrong with it, but shouldn’t they be nice even if they don’t really care for the person? I feel like that’s bad, to play favorites. It’s not fair.”

“Jin, nothing in this world is fair. You know that. It’s like how some kids are born into the upper ring or royalty while we’re in the lower ring going day by day” Kiki chimed in, earthbending and kicking a small stone alongside them.

“She’s got a point. Sometimes there’s not a way to make life fair to everyone. That’s like saying Kiki can’t earthbend because we aren’t benders. It doesn’t make sense for her not to work with what she’s got.”

“Yeah! So in the same vein, if a guy treats you better than others, you should take it in stride!”

It's a difficult point to argue with, so Jin had let it go at the time. Still, she was pretty selective with who she dated. And even then, neither of the two guys she dated in school really were who she was looking for. No one was.

Except for the tea boy.

She had gone into Pao’s to order a cup of tea after her shift at the flower shop nearby. He was an old family friend, and it was nice to catch up with him. But he wasn’t the one serving tea. Instead it was a small elder man, and a boy who were bustling around the shop. The old man was great at making tea, and even though Pao wasn’t in during the afternoons anymore because of the extra help, he was kind and created a homely feel to the shop.

And, the boy working there was hot.

He hadn’t paid any extra attention to her the first time around, which was nice because it gave her more leeway to observe him. The scar on his eye really was a focus point, it was strikingly different from his mannerisms. He moved around gently, silently between tables, while his scar was, well, apparent. But it didn’t hurt his looks, no. Honestly, Kiki once said guys with scars were hotter, and for once Jin had to agree. Even without seeing the scar, he was built and carried himself in a silent but proud manner that could make anyone stop and admire. Yet the scar, it was a focus point, leading directly to those molten, golden eyes.

So naturally, Jin began to visit more.

The second time was less exciting because while the tea boy was clearly very attractive, he was also a crybaby. He could be heard in the kitchen groaning and complaining to Mushi about the most insignificant things. Jin was almost done with her tea, deciding she wasn’t coming back, when a scene started to erupt in the other corner of the shop.

It seemed like a breakup, and the girl was not pleased, to say the least. It looked like they were from the middle ring, both the boy and girl (which really didn’t make sense but it wasn’t Jin’s business). Things were escalating on the girl’s side of the conversation. 

“That’s not a good reason to break up with me, Gesar, and you know it!” She screamed, pushing out the chair and standing over the boy, who honestly could not have been more red unless he was a tomato. Poor Gesar.

“I’m sorry Oma, I don’t know what else to tell you. I just don’t think we’re right for each other.”

“Oh now THAT. That’s a bunch of bullshit and you know it! What happened really? Was it another girl? Some peasant from around here? Who the fuck was it?”

“What? I didn’t cheat on you! I swear, there was no one else-”

“I can literally smell the bullshit coming off of you Gesar. Tell me who it was or I’ll fucking,” Oma’s eyes were wildly looking around, a glint shining through and through. She grabbed the teapot from their table, still steaming with the tea inside, “I’ll fucking give you a face of hot tea, you asshole.”

That’s when Jin saw him, moving silently as always but with an agility Jin’s only seen in the Dai Li from time to time. Tea boy stepped in front of Oma and grabbed her wrist. When just seconds ago the girl had a fury burning in her eyes, they began to widen from astonishment and fear.

Tea boy stayed calm, leveling with Oma and lowering her arm, “No, you will not throw boiling water on your ex-boyfriend. Not here, not ever.”

“H-hey! Let go of me peasant! Who do you think you are, treating a lady like this?”

“I. Don’t. Give. A. Fuck. If. You. Are. A. Lady.” Tea boy said through gritted teeth, his hand still firmly holding her wrist. “I don’t care what you are, your status, or where you come from. What I do care about is that you were about to scald a boy’s face because he broke up with you. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

The glint in Oma’s eyes disappeared as it dawned on her where she was and what she was about to do. Tea boy, still in front of her ex, grabbed the tea pot with his other hand, and yanked it from her grasp.

“I need you to leave this shop now and don’t bother coming back. Don’t bother contacting this guy either, deal with your high school breakup like any normal person, idiot, or else I’ll get the police involved.” Tea boy let go of her wrist, and with her eyes cast on the floor and grumbling about poor service, she rushed out.

He turned to face Gesar, who had been gawking at the situation unraveling in front of him the whole time.

“Are you alright?”

“I... yes, of course. Thanks to you. Thank you so much.”

“Of course, all in a day's work,” tea boy deadpanned, getting a chuckle from Gesar. “Let me know if she gives you any more trouble, and I’ll help you take care of it.”

Yeah ok, Jin liked him. 

But  _ nooooooo,  _ here in Ba Sing Se we can’t have nice things, so just as she and Lee had begun making out, he was gone. Gone to the upper ring with his uncle. Boom history. Past in the past. Never to return. Dream boy? Don't know him.

* * *

So when the Mushi in front of her turned out to be the uncle of the boy who had left in a hurry from a date with Jin after being freaked out by a kiss, Jin genuinely wanted Kiki to appear from thin air and earth bend the ground beneath her to swallow her whole. Kiki, however, was not there.

“What a surprise! Jin was it?” the older man, Mushi, said with a gusto that surprised Jin. He looked livelier now in comparison to before, not like that was surprising given a war had been ended between then and now. He looked younger now; a veil of concern lifted. Well, good for him.

“Yes, and you are Mushi from Pao’s tea shop, right? So good to see you again! What are you doing here in the lower ring? I thought you and your nephew had moved to the upper ring.”

“I am in the upper ring yes, but I’m visiting a friend here,” Mushi clapped the younger man on the back. He was much scrawnier than Mushi and couldn’t meet Jin’s eyes. “He’s opening a new spa in this part of the city, and he’s the best masseur ever!” 

The man smiled at Mushi’s words, and stood up a little taller, “That’s not quite true, as flattering as you are Mushi.” chuckling, the man met Jin’s glaze now, eyes clear with sincerity, “My name’s Tycho, and I’m the one running this spa.”

“Nice to meet you, Tycho. I’m Jin.” Jin bowed as part of common courtesy, but also because if Mushi is hyping up this man, he’s probably more than he’s letting on.

Tycho smiled and bowed his head in return, “And to you as well, Mushi just came here to offer a surplus of rose petals to help with my opening."

“Indeed. I accidentally bought too many for my shop this month, and figured with the grand opening, what could be lovelier than rose petals? But, I’m sure this wasn’t why you came in here, was it Jin?”

“Actually, coincidentally enough, it was. I’ve been looking for rose petals throughout the market with no luck, but I just saw the cart out front.”

“A great coincidence indeed! I actually still have a bit of roses left at the tea shop. Jin, would you care to come with me to the shop to catch up over some tea? I can give you roses as a thank you for good company this evening.”

Ah shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I was gonna write more but this seemed like a good place to pause the story for the moment. Also, Iroh still is undercover in the city just because its easier to talk to people when they know you as "the local tea shop owner" rather than "general iroh of the fire nation and savior of Ba Sing Se" or whatever. So yeah. Also, I fucking love including Tycho in this chapter you best bet Jin is gonna ask how him and Iroh met in the next chapter. Til next time!!


	3. A way out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eh, this isn't a fun chapter. Just a plot pusher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But also! Just thought I'd plug my friend's red bubble! She has some cute stickers of turtleducks and baby appa, so check her out for sure!  
> [Here's the link!](https://www.redbubble.com/people/nadasri/shop)

Mushi is a great guy. At Pao’s, he had this warmth that radiated throughout the shop and imbued a sense of peace and love in anyone passing through. His bubbly nature sets anyone at ease. He’s insightful, not nosy, but clearly puts those around him before himself. Jin’s talked to Rena about this before, and Rena’s convinced he’s actually just some big-shot Spirit disguised as an old man to access and guide humanity. Honestly, she’s not far off.

So, in theory, when God offers you a cup of tea, you can’t refuse. And who would?

(Not Jin, clearly, even if that means chancing a very awkward encounter)

She’s still not entirely sure how she wound up here, just a couple hours ago she was joking with Kiki and Rena about how she’ll never have to see Lee or his uncle ever again. Now here she was, having tea with the (albeit kind) uncle of the aforementioned boy. Funny how life works.

After parting ways with Tycho, Mushi and Jin made their way to the upper ring. It’d been years since Jin left the lower ring, and transitioning between each sector was as strange as she recalled. The glares from guards and citizens alike as Mushi filled permission forms allowing her to the upper ring were typical, nothing to do about those. But man, the lap of luxury people in the upper ring lived in! 

Walking about the marble-lined sidewalks with neatly trimmed hedges and fountains, Jin was lost deep in thought.

_There’s kids here, born and raised in the riches of the city. They might never even leave this ring of the city, or the city itself._

Soon they reached Mushi’s tea shop. The Jasmine Dragon. It had a quant front, one of simplicity. It certainly wasn’t claiming for any spotlight on the street. But upon entering, Jin noticed the decor was sparse, but personal. If Pao’s shop felt comfortable with Mushi’s presence, then the Jasmine Dragon feels like home. Comfortable. Safe. Jin doesn’t know how else to put it.

“I had closed the store today because I was going out. Allow me to heat up the water, what tea would you like? Jasmine? Oolong?” Mushi asked while opening up the shutters to allow the evening glow into the restaurant.

“Jasmine is perfect, thank you Mushi”

“Of course, please, seat yourself anywhere.”

As Mushi went to the back to prepare the tea, Jin took her time to examine the restaurant. The wall panels were a cream color. Slim, emerald brush strokes graced the surface here and there in swirls and waves. Typical restaurant tables lined the walls, and behind them a service counter stood, where Mushi had disappeared past into presumably some sort of kitchen.

Jin walked over to a table closer to the counter and sat. Putting down her items, she leaned back in her seat and stared out the window that gave view to a side street and some neatly stacked apartments. She began to get lost in thoughts.

_Ok Jin, relax. You are getting tea with a friend. Just some tea. With a friend. That’s all. Just don’t bring up Lee, and things will go great. Heck, you can even look around the upper ring before you go, it’ll be great!_

“Here we are,” Mushi returned with a small tea pot and two cups. He sat across from Jin, and began to pour tea.

“Thank you so much for the tea again, Mushi. How much was it? I’m happy to pay.”

“No need! Consider this on behalf of the free tea coupon Lee gave you some time ago.”

Huh, ok. Should’ve remembered that she wasn’t the only one who could bring up Lee in this conversation. Welp.

“That’s very kind of you. Is Lee still working at the shop these days?”

“No no,” Mushi chuckled, “in fact, both Lee and I have been gone from the city for some time now. I returned about two weeks ago, but I’m afraid Lee won’t return for a while.”

Jin nodded in understanding and took a sip of tea. Internally though, she could feel herself relax. Currently, no Lee = no awkward embarrassing run in with the dude you jumped at a date. 

Mushi sighed, continuing on, “Such a shame really that he isn’t in the city now. I won’t lie that I’m disappointed you two could not continue seeing each other.”

HUH. Jin coughed a little on her tea at that, “I’m sorry, what do you mean?” 

“Well, Lee told me the date went well. It’s a shame that timing didn’t work out, since we had left for the upper ring only a couple days after you two went out.” 

“I... yeah. It really was poor timing,” Jin couldn’t help herself from smiling. Granted, she now had way more questions than she had at the beginning of this conversation, but in due time, she supposed. “But it’s nice you both were able to move. It really is a wonderful opportunity you deserve.”

“Thank you dear, although if I am going to be completely honest with you, there is a request I have for you”

“Sure, what is it?”

“When we were at Tycho’s, I noticed you were carrying some hiring flyers. Well, I just happen to also be hiring staff for reopening the Jasmine Dragon full-time. So, I was wondering if you’d be interested in working here”

Jin’s eyes widened and mouth gaped. Mushi didn’t pay any mind to it and continued on, “I understand it can be quite the commute between the upper and lower ring, but with a work permit, I believe it’ll give you access to the other rings of the city whenever, if that’s something you’re interested in. The pay would remain the typical service wage for upper ring residents, regardless of if you decide to move here or stay in the lower ring. Also-”

“Pardon me, Mushi, but why me? I’m sure there’s plenty of people in the upper or middle ring willing to help. Not that I’m declining the offer!” Jin rushed to add, “I’d love to work here, but I am curious.”

Mushi had a soft smile on his lips, and he reached to pour more tea from the pot. “Of course, well, it’s because I trust you.”

“Really?”

“Jin, at Pao’s, you were nothing but kind to my nephew, and that’s no simple feat. Also, even though I haven’t seen you much recently, I do actually trust and know you in comparison to anyone else I could hire.”

Jin’s mind was literally reeling. This is too good to be true. It was a way _out_. Out of her current looming problems. Out of her monotonous life during the war. A new start.

“I’d be happy to join you at the shop, Mushi,” she says before she even registers what’s happening, “Although, I’m happy with just commuting between the lower and upper ring. I some family and friends in the lower ring that I’d hate to be far from.”

“Ah, of course. But that’s a relief to here you accept!” Mushi laughed heartily. He raised his glass, “Cheers to the future.”

“Cheers”

Clink.


	4. How about a picnic?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jin has to update her friends on her currently situation, and once again The Date™ is mentioned again and deeply analyzed.  
> Notes at the end!  
> Also, again, check out my friend's redbubble for some neat avatar stuff! [Here's the link!](https://www.redbubble.com/people/nadasri/shop)

Jin and Mushi spoke for a while after she accepted the offer. A little bit about the specifics about the job: hours, uniform, filing a travel permit between the multiple rings of the city (which for anyone else would take at least 3 months, but Mushi promised he knew someone who could do it in the next week so she could start sooner, and Jin definitely wasn’t gonna question it), but they also just talked about everything happening. How both were fairing after the war, the current events across the city, and the newest play traveling the world right now that originated from Ember island in the fire nation.

~~ (Something about the Avatar’s journey to learn the other elements, it sounded interesting enough). ~~

When Jin finally got up to leave, it was almost night out, so she hurried home to her studio apartment in the outer edge of the lower ring. The whole way back, her mind was buzzing with the several news of the day. Kiki and Rena are gonna have an absolute field day tomorrow when they hear about this.

* * *

“ _ Clink?? Did you actually say the clink?” _

“We literally left you alone for less than a day. Did you at least get the roses for the syrup?”

“Rena, focus! Homegirl said  _ clink _ to her new boss after he offered a job in the _ upper ring.  _ I think we need to report her because that’s some Dai Li brainwashing bullshit.”

“Kiki! I didn’t get brainwashed. Also, watch your voice, I don’t wanna get in trouble.”

“No one’s gonna get us here. Technically we’re outside of the city right now. The rules do not apply.”

Kiki had a point. The three of them had gathered out in the clear space beyond the outer wall of the lower ring. After the war, officials decided it was best to open the walls for easier trade and moving of troops going home. The area was mostly grass, so the girls had decided to try out the area for a picnic. While Rena and Jin laid on the blanket, Kiki had earthbent a wall for shade and to also practice her earthbending by cutting out shapes from the ground, she was getting pretty good, and apparently it helped with improving spatial awareness (or something like that). She was gonna need it if she was gonna survive in her special forces training at the Palace.

Rena turned to grab one of the few remaining pork-chicken buns, tearing it open, “Ok, sure the rules do not apply here. But Jin did you-”

“I GOT THE STUPID ROSES.”

“Oh thank goodness. Now then, about this job. When do you start?”

“Depending on when I can get the permit, but probably by next week Mushi is gonna start training me.”

“Mushi? As in hot-Lee’s uncle?” Rena glanced over to see Jin nod. No shame in it at this point, she supposed.

“Interesting, did Lee come up in conversation?”

“Were you even listening to Jin’s ramble from earlier?” Kiki shouted from where she was training. “No offense Jin, but it seems like the man wants you to work with him just because his nephew kinda likes you.”

“ _ Liked  _ me,” Jin corrected, “and again, that’s the part I really don’t understand.”

“Well Jin, you see,” Rena began, “when a straight guy sees a pretty girl such as yourself, his brain immediately converts to gecko mode. All logic, rational, and common sense just fly out the window.”

“Thanks but I don’t know how that relates to me. Lee wasn’t in any ‘gecko mode’ as you call it. He’s the one who ended the date, remember?”

“But he kissed you back!” Kiki screamed over the sound of breaking rocks, “He! Kissed! You! Back! Even if he ran away from the date, he clearly had some type of attraction to you, Jin. Also, he told his uncle the date was nice, and there’s no reason he would lie to his uncle, right?”

“But it clearly wasn’t nice! He ditched me at the fountain.” How long was it going to take for Kiki and Rena to understand this?

Rena turned over on the blanket to face Jin with a soft gaze. There was a hint of sadness in her expression, but Jin couldn’t place it. Stress? Pity? Sympathy?

“How was the date before he left you though? I thought you said it was going well at least.”

“I mean, yeah, it was going really well. That’s why I kissed him.”

“So what if the reason he left wasn’t directly tied to you?” Rena raised her hand as Jin began to protest, “Wait, let me finish. You mentioned that he was kinda awkward on the date and that he was part of a travelling circus before working at a tea shop.”

“Which, by the way, was definitely false.” Kiki piped in.

“Yes I agree--definitely false. Either way, it seems kinda clear to me that he isn’t used to dating, and that means he is totally oblivious to etiquette too. So allow me to stage the scenario from his perspective”

“He’s on a date with a beautiful, strong, caring woman--don’t hide your blush Jin, it’s completely true--and he likes her so much that he decided to light up the firelight fountain which, by the way, is difficult for literally  _ anyone  _ to light on their own. Even the recent Fire Nation immigrants are having trouble firebending all the lights on. Anyways, now that the lights are lit, this girl grabs his hand. His hand! Oh my god is this really happening to him? He begins to panic, offering you the tea coupon. But oh man, she tells him to close his eyes. He definitely knows what’s about to go down. It’s obvious, and he internally was going ‘ohmygodohmygodohmygod’ the entire time.”

Rena paused at this point in the retelling. She readjusted herself on the blanket and looked at Jin. “Jin, the date  _ was  _ incredible for him. Even if he’d never been on one before, he knew that kiss was coming. Who wouldn’t?”

“Then, why  _ did  _ he leave?”

“I KNOW! Oh my god, I totally know!” Kiki screamed from her corner. “Jin, it's time I introduced you and Rena to...” Kiki lifted two giant rocks, thudding them on the ground like drums (spirits, where was she getting this energy?).

“...introduce you to EMOTIONAL TRAUMA AND THE INABILITY TO TRUST!”

“Kiki, you’re saying that like it’s a good thing.”

“Oh but you see it is! I am an expert on the topic, as you both know.” (they did) “For my experience, it was important that you both accepted me, but remember how we first met? I was the biggest asshole in all of Ba Sing Se, and mentally it was hard to grasp that you both genuinely cared about me. If Lee has experienced any family problems in the past (which living with his uncle would suggest), then he probably was having a hard time adjusting to the love and care Jin absolutely radiates.”

“So in a sense,” Jin began, putting the pieces together, “me kissing him wasn’t bad necessarily but it was...”

“Overwhelming! Yes!” Kiki finished for her, walking over to the blanket and plopping herself down, sweat beading from her forehead after her training.

“Kiki’s right, Jin. I doubt it was actually because of you he ran off.”

“Yeah! Also, his uncle-boss-man told you that getting along with Lee isn’t easy, so that tells us that Lee isn’t used to kindness, reinforcing my theory.”

...huh

Jin fell back to the blanket, “Oh spirits,” she groaned, raising her arms over her head, looking up into the blue, blue sky. “I came here to tell you guys about my new job that’s miraculously going to solve all my problems. How did we get to the topic of my past relationships?”

“Dude, they’re directly correlated.”

Rena must’ve caught on that Jin was tired of talking about Lee. “Anyways,” she began, “what other details did Mushi tell you about the job?”

“Nothing much, honestly. The pay is good. Really good actually. It’s upper ring minimum wage, so like 30 copper an hour. He gave me some money for the coming week, since I can’t start work until then at least. It’s full-time from 7 to 6, but I get off at noon on Fridays and the weekend. He told me he’d like to give me a little more slack once he can get a second person on staff, so hopefully weekends will be off in the future. He’s letting me look around for my own ‘uniform’ this week.”

“Damn that’s a sick deal. Big sad we aren’t gonna be able to hang out with you in the day as much now. I almost miss running into the flower shop to say hi to you. I guess I could do the same thing in the evenings when I’m on my way for night training.” Kiki sighed, poking Rena in the stomach, “But it won’t be as fun with mother hen stuck out here.”

Rena smiled gently, playfully swatting Kiki’s prodding hand. “Thanks, but to be fair I was given the opportunity to work at the university.”

“Yes yes, but you decided teaching at a night school in the slums was the more  _ noble act.” _

“Kiki for the last time we do not live in slums-”

Jin interrupted, “Also, the permit he’s giving me allows me to invite other people to travel to the upper ring.”

“ _ WHAT?”  _ Rena and Kiki stared at her with mouths agape. “Does that mean...”

“Yep, you guys can come with me and hang out at the shop every once in a while. It came up while I was talking to Mushi, and he was happy to invite you guys. In fact, he was going to offer you both jobs, but I told him you both already had great gigs.”

“Oh sweet, sweet Jin. You are the light of my life, I could cry.”

“Just because you could doesn’t mean you should.”

“Kiki, I will smash this bun into your face.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there's a lot of interaction with OCs in the beginning of this piece, but please bear with me I promiseeeee we will get to the gaang soon. Jin just needs to have a good support system written out because I doubt she was a loner in the actual series. Also, Kiki and Rena's love and support for her makes me happy to write so I'm doing it lol. I think the duo of sweet Jin, sensible Rena, and hot-headed Kiki really blends well here, and I like writing similar bits to their personalities because that's what happens when you hang out with people all the time lol.


	5. The visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jin works at the Jasmine Dragon and makes a friend.  
> Notes at the end!  
> Again, check out my friend's redbubble for some neat avatar stuff! [Here's the link!](https://www.redbubble.com/people/nadasri/shop)

Sure enough, one week after first running into Mushi at Tycho’s spa, Jin got an envelope sealed with the city bureau’s insignia. Training wasn’t too bad either, although Jin found memorizing the dozens of tea blends to be rigorous. Mushi’s enthusiasm pushed her along, and within the next month Jin was surprisingly knowledgeable about tea, even though she’d never owned a tea set before starting.

(Of course, upon hearing this, Mushi gifted her a 4-person set and insisted it was a necessity for her to own as a tea shop employee)

It was small actions like those that occurred sporadically over the next month. First it was the tea set and uniforms (Mushi encouraged her to get multiple--her closet was freshly stocked with several robes now with various flowers embroidered down the sides). Then with the amount of time she spent with Mushi, they grew comfortable with each other, and one day he mentioned that she could call him “Uncle.”

“I know it might be a little less formal than the upper ring culture demands, but at this point you and the girls are like family members to me, so I’m sure society will forgive us.” Mushi winked, “Also, it’s what all the children close to me call me, so I insist!”

Jin and her friends didn’t see any reason not to, so they got used to calling him Uncle Mushi, or sometimes just Uncle.

That was another thing. Kiki and Rena visited the shop pretty often nowadays. Initially both of them were scared to show up and risk Jin losing her job, but they were quick to understand Mushi was lenient on Jin and enjoyed their company as much as they enjoyed his. Before training, Kiki would now and then pop into the shop for a few minutes, sometimes ordering a cup of black tea, other times just leaning on the counter Jin stood behind to brew the teas so she could tell her about whatever antics were happening in her and Rena’s apartment complex.

Sometimes, she’d let Jin know on these trips that Rena wanted to hang out at the Jasmine Dragon in the coming, and Jin would happily fill out a visitor form at the ring border office for Rena. In the following weeks, it helped that the guards got used to seeing Rena make a commute to the shop, reading material in hand.

At least twice a week Rena would join Jin on the early morning walk to the store, offering her a breakfast sandwich she whipped up as a sort of thanks to Jin for letting her study at Uncle Mushi’s shop. Once there, Rena would set herself up at a small table in the corner of the shop where the light would just hit the tabletop regardless of what time of day it was. As expected from the incredibly diligent Rena, she was fairly quiet and would only get up for breaks and to ask Jin for more tea, keeping up only the swallowest of small talk.

Of course, that was only while Jin was working. On Fridays, Uncle Mushi left closing the shop at noon up to Jin since he had Pai Sho night somewhere outside of the city those days. Knowing Uncle was alright with it, Rena and Kiki would occasionally come over in the afternoon after hours, bringing along noodles from the lower ring. In the shop they would hang out, eat noodles, and sometimes play one of the many board games Uncle kept in the back closet. It was incredibly peaceful, when the afternoon glow of the city warmed the instead of the dimly lit shop, as the three girls slurped noodles and laughed until their sides hurt. Those days, Jin would smile to herself and think,  _ if this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.  _ She’d wish that time could stop at that moment.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that.

As time passed, fall arrived in the city, sending chilly winds bustling down streets lined with red and brown trees. The streets, the people, even the ring walls seemed to be bundling up. Leaves cluttered the streets in the mornings after especially windy nights, and they would crunch under Jin’s boots as she made the early day commute. 

Incidentally, it was around this time Kiki and Rena both got busier. For Kiki, the palace’s training was intensifying, shifting to a full-time day schedule that sometimes only let her occasionally walk with Jin in the mornings to the upper ring. For Rena, autumn's arrival only meant one thing: school starting, and the Lower Ring Educational Center was understaffed, so she too decided to pick up a day class. As necessary as it was, Jin was disappointed to hear that her best friends would not be able to visit her at Uncle Mushi’s shop like they did over the summer.

“Nooooo don’t look so sad about it, Jin. You’re so sexy,”

“Kiki, of all the things you say, how has none of it ever justified your existence.” Rena gave a comforting hug to Jin, wrapping her arms tight around the girl as they all sat on the floor of Jin’s studio apartment. “I know, it really does suck. For us too, of course. The Jasmine Dragon was my favorite spot to study! But I promise we’ll visit you here at the apartment as much as we can.”

“And you’re obviously welcome to crash our place anytime of day! You have a spare key after all.”

Jin gave a soft smile to Kiki, who was already grinning at the triumph of cheering Jin up. “That’s true, I do. I know things are gonna be ok, it just was so nice to have at least one of you there. Made the job less lonely, you know?”

“You won’t be lonely! I swear by it, honestly. You’re so bubbly around the shop that Rena and I are certain you will make some new friends, especially without our idiotic presence.”

“Speak for yourself,” Rena loosened the hug she had around Jin, her hands resting on Jin’s shoulders as she moved back to scan Jin’s face to see how she was feeling. “Kiki is kinda right though, if I have to admit. I think time without us looming in the shop will help you seem more approachable. You have this great charisma around everyone, I’m confident you won’t feel lonely like you might think.”

* * *

So, another month passed with Jin working at the tea shop, this one just a little less exciting than the last, but Jin had to admit that the shift wasn’t necessarily worse. Kiki and Rena kept up their side of the promise. Some Fridays when she’d make the trek to the lower ring, she’d head over to their flat rather than home, and each time she’d walk into their living room Rena wouldn’t hesitate to put the students’ assignments down to grab her a quick snack. On weekends where the rain wouldn’t stop pouring and Jin stayed cooped up in bed with a book, she’d hear pebbles hitting her window to find Kiki earthbending pellets up, surprising Jin with food and company in the gloomy weather.

With the shop devoid of their presence, Jin was able to focus more on the shop and help improve it. One day she noticed that some of the same produce was being sold at the upper and lower ring, only for a higher price to stores in the upper ring. Upon telling Uncle about this, he agreed to make weekly trips with Jin to the lower ring marketplace to buy produce. On these trips Uncle and Jin always had endless tales and banter to talk about, some of it about within the city walls and Jin’s experience, other times it was about Mushi’s journeys outside of the city, which she incidentally found out were not from travels with the circus.

“I’m not sure why Lee thought it would be a good idea to say we were part of a circus, especially knowing how poor his balance can be sometimes.” Uncle let out a belly laugh. They were on a train back to the upper ring, supplies in both of their hands for the coming week.

“The truth is, Lee and I were refugees in Ba Sing Se because the Fire Nation at the time was after us.” Uncle looked over in time to see Jin’s eyes widen in shock. “It’s complicated as to why exactly, but with the war over, we are no longer on the run, fortunately.”

“Is that why Lee isn’t staying with you to help the shop?”

“Yes, Lee’s finally gotten the chance to return home on his own terms, and I couldn’t be happier for him. Currently he’s taken up some responsibilities at our home, helping with recovery and reform, but I hope some day in the future, he will be able to visit the shop and relax in this new era.”

* * *

One Friday, after Uncle had already said goodbye to Jin and left for his Pai Sho, the door opened as Jin was washing dishes in the back.

“Sorry, we closed about an hour ago!” Jin called out to whoever was on the other side. It was a common mistake really. Lots of times when Jin and the girls were hanging out in the shop after hours, some passerby would mistake the lights from within to mean the Jasmine Dragon was still open, and it was easy enough to steer customers out once they realized the shop was closed for the day. In the couple of cases where the customer refused until they were served, Jin was grateful Kiki was there to scare the intruder off. 

A silence hung in the air after for a moment, and Jin began to wonder if anyone had even walked in. But then, she heard a small voice on the opposite side of the wall. It was a little nasally, as if whoever had extreme allergies or just stopped crying.

“I know that,” the voice snapped, annoyed but quickly softening to a lull, “is Uncle... Mushi here at the moment? He told me I could come in anytime.”

At this point Jin had finished the dishes and while drying her hands on a nearby rag, walked out from the back to see who was here to see Mushi.

It was a small girl, probably just a couple years younger than Jin. Her hair was in an updo held by a headband, and long bangs framed her face and sparsely over her eyes. Her eyebrows were drawn in a sort of concentrated, determined look and the corners of her mouth were downturned into a sort of pouting face. So, this was one of the other children Mushi was close to, but why was she here now?

“He leaves the shop early on Fridays for Pai Sho nights,” Jin explained, hanging up the rag she used to dry her hands, “can I take a message, or is it something urgent?”

The girl sighed, her stance slouching. For a 13(?) year-old, Jin realized she was pretty tense.  _ She must’ve come here to destress with Uncle. _

“No, no message. I’ll come another time, thanks.” She started to turn to leave.

“Actually, if you don’t mind,” Jin blurted out, the girl turning again with an eyebrow raised, “I was just about to make a pot of jasmine tea, and I’d love some company if you’re free.”

The girl pursed her lips, thinking hard. To Jin’s surprise though, the girl shrugged her shoulders and agreed.

“Great! I’ll make the pot real quick, pick wherever to sit.”

...

Jin hurriedly brewed a pot of tea and came out with it and two cups. Resting the cups on the table, the girl spoke, an edge of suspicion to her words.

“So, how do you know Uncle?”

“I used to frequent the tea shop a lot before the Fire Nation invasion. Afterwards, one day I was out looking for a job, and it just so happened that I ran into him in the lower ring market and he was hiring. It worked out pretty conveniently.”

“Why were you in the lower ring?”

“Oh, I um. I live there,” Jin admitted probably for the first time since working at the shop. It wasn’t something she’d usually admit to a customer in the upper ring, but this girl didn’t deserve lies.

Luckily, if the girl was surprised by the news, she didn’t show it. “What’s it like?”

“The lower ring? Not bad, definitely not as luxurious as here but-”

“No, I meant the upper ring. What are your thoughts on the culture?”

“...you’re not from around here either, are you?”

“Hey, I asked you a question first.”

Jin could help but smile at that. In a way, the teasing reminded her almost exactly of Kiki from back in middle division. Perhaps a little more grounded and less edging on uncertainty. No, this girl had this sureness in her actions. A finality in her movements.

“Honestly, it’s pretty stupid,” Jin set down her cup to look out the window at the street, “I think it’s just a way higher society can feel superior to everyone else. They can go ‘Oh look at us! We have these rules and etiquette you must follow to be superior, and only we know it!’ and they think it justifies the social classes. The culture is just a disguise to cover the fact that at the end of the day, we are all just people in this city, no better or worse than the other.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Are you from the lower ring too?”

“No, I come from out of the city, and honestly I grew up in a pretty wealthy family. But I never enjoyed the rules and regulations that came with growing up there. It fucking sucked. Last year I ran away to travel with some friends, and it was eye-opening. The way my parents talked about others made me question if leaving would even be worth it, but it was. It's crazy, the way they were wrong about lower classes’ greediness or crime. And they thought I was the blind one!” She laughed hard at that, shaking her head.

“Wait, what?” Jin peered closer at the girl’s face. Sure enough, behind the bangs, her green eyes had a milky film over her glaze, and the eyes, while moving around a bit, weren’t looking specifically at anything. Holy shit. This girl is blind.

“What?” The girl was beginning to stop laughing now, a smile still pulling at her lips.

“You’re blind. I didn’t notice that.”

“Don’t worry, most people don’t.”

“Not gonna lie, I’ve seen my fair share of blind folks in the lower ring, but I never would’ve guessed you were blind from the way you carry yourself.”

“Yeah well,” the girl began, taking a final sip of tea before setting the cup down to refill. “I’m an earthbender,” she finished, as though that was an explanation in of itself.

Jin could only nod, “Gotcha.”

“I’m serious, it’s a type of seismic sense. Got any earthbending friends?” Jin nodded, and the girl smiled, “Yeah so all you gotta do is blindfold them and throw some rocks at them. They’ll get the hang of it once they start thinking.”

They talked for a while like that, the two girls. At one point the girl’s stomach growled, so Jin made some ham and cheese sandwiches for the two of them.

“So, I forgot to ask, how do you know Uncle?” Jin asked. It was almost night now, and the street was lit only by the street lamps and the occasional firefly. Jin had lit some lamps in the shop as well.

“Oh. I met him during my travels at a time when I was confused. He helped a lot.”

Jin took a final sip of tea before asking what she’d been meaning to, “And is that why you came in today?”

She looked toward Jin’s face, “Because I was confused? In a way, yeah, I guess.”

She paused for a moment before speaking. Jin didn’t bother prompting for more information either. It seemed like one of those situations where you couldn’t ask the other person questions, but only let them speak their mind to the extent they were comfortable with.

“I was pretty upset earlier over this whole concept of high society, I guess. This past year, when I was out traveling, I never thought I’d return to my old life. Now, here I am, living in the upper ring of the city, back where I started in a way. My parents tried to reach out to me to tell me they’re in the city, but I don’t want to meet them because I feel like all they’ll do is nag me about how I’m again living in high society.”

The girl continued, “But now that I’ve talked to you, I don’t feel that way anymore.”

“What do you mean? What way?”

“I don’t feel unchanged anymore. You pointed out the key flaws Ba Sing Se’s upper class has earlier, and even though it’s obvious to you and me, I doubt it's even detectable to anyone who’s grown up around here.”

“Right, and part of the reason you and I can see that is because of our pasts?”

“Right! It’s relieving, honestly. I thought I was the only one,” the girl chuckled, stifling a yawn in the process, “I think it’s getting late. Thank you for the tea and company.”

“No please, thank you, I should probably pack up and head home soon. I have a busy day tomorrow.”

The two of them cleaned up their dishes and put them away (Jin insisted she could do it, but the girl wouldn’t budge). Soon enough, Jin was locking up, and the two were saying goodbye.

“Say, I forgot to ask,” the girl started, tugging at Jin’s robe, “what’s your name?”

“Oh! My name’s Jin. And how about you?”

“Thanks again, Jin, now that I know Uncle is working with some good company, I’ll be sure to visit more often,” the girl grinned, almost smirking, “and my name’s Toph. Toph Beifong.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry this chapter was so long! A lot of plot transforming happening in it, and we finally are starting to see the gaang enter the scene, which is exciting for you guys + nerve-racking for me because I don't wanna screw up the gaang's vibe here. I'm gonna do my best, but yeah as always I'd love to hear your thoughts, good and bad.   
> Also, don't worry about the ocs disappearing a little bit in this chapter, there's def going to be a shift in focus to more of the Jasmine Dragon and the gaang, but Kiki and Rena will still be prevalent!


	6. Confession time (featuring: milk + cookies)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where we see Jin a lil hurt hurt for -character development- and introduce yet another member of the gaang. Who could it be!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out my friend's redbubble for some neat avatar stuff! [Here's the link!](https://www.redbubble.com/people/nadasri/shop)  
> More notes at the end

A couple days after meeting Toph, Jin was hanging out with Rena and decided to ask her some questions about the incident.

“Hey Rena?”

“Hey Jin?” Rena called from where she was sitting in the dining area, grading her students’ recent team projects. Jin couldn’t see her face from where she was laying on the living room floor, but she could easily picture the scrunched face Rena made when she was concentrating too hard.

“Have you ever heard about the Beifongs? The name sounds familiar but I can’t remember why.”

“For sure, the Beifongs are this family of politicians stretching way back. It’s a lot of old money in that family, really rich folks.” Rena said, “They’re a lot less involved these days, but there’s a chapter in the history textbooks about them helping out Avatar Kuruk. It's unclear if it’s true, it could easily be some rich people's propaganda, so usually I just skip that section while I’m teaching.”

“What does the family do now?”

“The members who are alive?” Rena paused, “You know, I’ve never really thought about it. My guess is the family lives somewhere in Gaoling. That’s across the desert and nested in some mountains. A lot of rich people live there to avoid Ba Sing Se’s taxes, and also there’s this Earthbending tournament that the rich love to watch. Last I heard the family is just a couple these days, no kids to hear about yet. Probably don’t exist, or they’re embarrassed to talk about them.”

Rena continued on, “Why do you ask?”

Jin hesitated. She only felt the teensiest amount of guilt saying, “No reason, really. Someone came into the Dragon yesterday and ordered under the name Beifong.”

“Oh interesting. Yeah I guess they must be in Ba Sing Se for the peace meetings going on or whatever. Kiki might have more information on that.”

* * *

Leaving the apartment after wishing Rena good night, Jin thought about Toph. There was this confidence around the girl that even most guards in the city lacked, yet her family never told the world about her existence. Why? There wasn’t anything wrong with her.

It quickly dawned on Jin after that. “Oh,” she said to no one in particular in the empty alley, “Toph is blind.”

_ “No kids to hear about yet. Probably don’t exist, or they’re embarrassed to talk about them,”  _ Rena had said, unfazed to the situation Jin was in.

_Her parents are embarrassed of her_ , Jin realized.  _ They figured it was easier to act like a Beifong daughter didn’t exist, rather than tell the world that their handicapped daughter had left them to travel and escape high society. _

Whoever Toph left her family for, Jin decided it was probably for the best.

* * *

True to her word, Toph began visiting the shop more often. When she saw Mushi finally, she ran up to him, giving him a big hug.

“Uncle! It’s literally been forever!”

Uncle Mushi laughed heartily at that, returning the hug, “Indeed it has, Master Toph.” They separated, both still grinning ear to ear, “Although I have to say that that’s mostly because you haven’t been to visit since Sokka left.”

“Um, that’s actually not true at all. I came here last Friday, but you were apparently already at your Pai Sho night,” Toph scoffed, turning to where Jin was brewing tea, gesturing in that direction, “Luckily, Jin was here to give me some great tea  _ and  _ company. She just might replace you!”

Uncle laughed. He was thrilled Jin and (master? sifu???) Toph already knew each other, actually planning on introducing the two eventually. It was pure chance they had both met.

It was nice having Toph around. Most of the time she’d come to visit Jin just to catch up and hear about her life, and Jin enjoyed the company and also hearing about the insane travels Toph had gotten up to in the last year. She quickly realized that calling Toph a master earthbender really just was an understatement of the year, and it appeared that Toph agreed with her in that remark.

“Dude. You are literally the first person to get that. I mean seriously, the fucking palace guards constantly ask me if I have clearance and every-fucking-time I am  _ this  _ close to just metalbending them to the ground so they’ll stop bothering me.”

Jin laughed, shaking her head, “Yeah, it’s kinda crazy they haven’t come up with a better title for you. Metalbender is a pretty big flex though, could be enough until you start up the academy here.”

“I think you mean  _ if  _ they let me start up the academy here.”

So sure, Toph, the insanely good earth/metalbender that traveled the world with friends and taught the new Avatar earthbending, would occasionally pop into the Jasmine Dragon, and Jin would be lying if she said she didn’t love having Toph around.

(Jin actually openly admitted that once, and it was only after that Toph told her she was a walking lie detector. I mean, seriously, how is Toph’s existence even  _ possible? _ )

Through Toph, Jin learned a personal perspective of the last year of the war, one that most people would be “on their knees begging to hear from Toph for the history textbooks,” according to Toph (apparently this was an actual thing that happened to her, but by the cringe written on her face from just recalling the moment, Jin knew not to broach the subject more).

It was fascinating really, learning that Toph’s friends were a pack of kids her age that had set off to end a 100 year war. Most people would’ve seen Toph’s story as some form of bragging, but Jin knew better.

“I’m surprised you’re still dealing with my shit, Jin”

“As opposed to what else? I had a choice this whole time?”

Toph laughed, it was light and sounded like something you’d hear down the hall of a middle school, definitely not something you’d hear from someone who took down an entire team of earthbending pro-wrestlers. 

“I’m just saying, if my story gets boring or annoying just let me know. I know it’s probably tiring to hear about and annoying is the last thing I want to be--”

“Stop. Just stop.” Jin said, “I can’t believe I have to be clear about this, but in my eyes, as awesome and incredible as you and your friends are, you guys are also my age. If even a quarter of the shit that’s happened to you guys were to happen to me, I think I’d just cry or something stupid. My point is, I really do enjoy hearing you talk Toph, but also I think it’s really important that you  _ do  _ talk about it. Not for historians, not for me, but for yourself.”

Jin didn’t notice when she had started to ramble, but at some point she remembered to wait and see what Toph was thinking. Her face concentrated, thinking back to some moment that only existed in the past and her memories. Toph began to slowly shake her head as if to snap out of it.

“It really was insane, wasn’t it?”

“Yes! Two of your friends literally almost stabbed themselves because an old lady was controlling their bodies, and you just told me about an entire invasion that, by the fucking way,  _ you guys were practically leading _ .”

“Oh man, and I haven’t even told you about Sparky yet.”

“Who’s Sparky?”

“You don’t know who Sparky is? But you literally work-- oh, never mind, I’ll explain.” Toph huffed as she hopped up to a high chair where Jin had set down a sandwich for the girl. 

“Sparky is my nickname for Prince Zuko. You remember the scar-face guy I told you about that wouldn’t stop following Aang?”

“Yeah, so he could regain his fire-honor or whatever?”

“Yes exactly. So to sum it up turns out he had hired Sparky Sparky Boom Man to murder us, but then felt bad, so he ditched his family to join us. In the process he ended up burning my feet and killing Sparky Sparky Boom Man.”

“He killed someone???”

“Well not exactly. Technically Boomerang killed Sparky Sparky Boom Man. But Zuko jumped in at the perfect time to stop us from being blown into smithereens. According to everyone else, of course. At this point I was a sitting turtle duck without my feet.”

“Toph, what the fuck is this.”

“I know right, it’s pretty messed up,” Toph drawled on, “but anyways yeah, so we had the future Fire Lord in our group now.”

...

It was strange in a way, to be hearing about the war heroes from the perspective of one of them. The way officials around the city and papers had spoken about them made Jin believe they were legends. Myths of impossible humans with ungodly strength. Invincible. Forces of pure good. Like any story, the truth had been twisted and rewritten dozens of times before it reached the commoners. Hearing the tale from Toph was refreshing. It was a direct source, no exaggeration ~~(except maybe about how cute Sokka was, but Jin wasn’t gonna tell Toph she thought that)~~. And it was clear to Jin that these kids were so, so much more than any history book could make them out to be.

One night, after Uncle had wished Jin goodnight and the moon was well overhead. Jin heard a knock at the door as she was sitting by the counter. Usually, when she stayed back to read in the quiet and safety of the shop, Jin simply didn’t answer. Sometimes, if the rusting continued, she’d grab for the small dagger she kept on her at all times in case it came down to self-defense. It never got to that point, and usually the noise would disappear after a minute.

This time, the knocking didn’t stop. From where Jin sat behind the counter, it was the sound of a murmur, muffled but consistent. Slowly Jin got up, clutching the dagger beneath her robes.Without casting a shadow under the door, she tiptoed along the long shadows drawn on the shop’s floor, careful to avoid creaking the floor.

Jin had the dagger held high as she approached the door, the murmuring knock never pausing, only getting louder to a strong  _ thump. thump. thump.  _ Jin’s hand was trembling. It had been years since she’d used this knife. Last time had probably been the incident--

_ No,  _ Jin chided herself, grimacing,  _ don’t think about that now. _

Suddenly, the knocking stopped, and a heavy silence followed. Jin tightened her grip on the knife, shifting her weight forward, ready to yank the door open and demand answers from the intruder on the other side, at knife-point if she had to. That is, until a very familiar voice spoke up.

“Jin, if that’s you behind this door, I need you to put down whatever you’re holding and open this door  _ right fucking now _ .”

“Oh shit.” Jin whispered, stowing the dagger back into her robes before unlocking and opening the shop doors to find none other than young Sifu Toph with a sack of flour hung across her back.

Well, no. It wasn’t a sack of flour. It was a man. 

Toph stumbled into the shop, dropping the ~~flour~~ person down on the shop’s floor. The man, who on closer inspection was sniffling, wore a blue suit from what Jin could tell. It looked like something someone would pick out for an upper ring gala, which actually, made a lot of sense since Jin was still at the tea shop (when had it gotten so late?). Examining Toph now, Jin noticed that she too was in formal attire: a silk gown that was the palest green, accompanied by gold stitching and lining. The dress covered her feet, presumably to hide the fact she was without shoes. In the dim light from Jin’s lamp and the moon, Toph look like a Spirit.

“What are you staring at?”

“Nothing really, you just look pretty all dressed up.”

Toph tried to hide her blush to no avail. Instead, she stuck out her tongue and mumbled a quick thanks, sinking to her knees where the man laid.

“Thanks, but enough about me. I need your help. Crybaby over here got dumped last week, and he’s in a state of crisis right now.”

The boy, who still faced right down on the floor (oh god, was there going to be snot on the ground? How was Jin even supposed to clean that up??), decided to finally speak up.

“Shut up, Toph! I’m not in a crisis. I just. I just,” the boy blubbered, “miss her  _ so much!”  _

“Sokka, calm down!” Toph said to the mass (Jin guessed this was Sokka) still facing the floor, sniffling every few seconds. Toph turned to Jin, lowering her voice.

“So um. Not how I wanted to introduce you to him, but yeah. This is Sokka. Remember that girl Suki?”

“The one who saved you from drowning?”

“Yeah exactly. She had to leave for home and decided long distance was too much for her,” Toph sighed, looking vaguely down at the wallowing Sokka, “I’m no good at talking through feelings, and you’re the only person I could think of. Besides Uncle, but I don’t want to bother him right now.”

“What were you gonna do if I wasn’t here?”

“Probably break in and give Sokka some cookies.”

“Right, let me go grab some of those.”

* * *

Jin brought out a tray of about a dozen of each cookie, accompanied by three glasses of milk. In the time Jin took to prepare the assortment, Toph had bullied Sokka onto a chair at a far table next to a window, the full moon’s light illuminating their faces more. Now with his face visible, Jin could see Sokka’s face, mostly swollen and red from the crying. He was looking up to the moon, and through a haze glossed over his eyes, tears still fell onto the table. Sitting right next to him, Toph sat facing forward, hands over her lap. Jin’s never seen Toph so concerned, watching it cross over her face every moment.

Jin put down the tray, giving the two of them their glasses. She looked out of the window too now, examining the empty street, “It’s a beautiful night.”

“I miss her, you know? It’s not just Suki.” Sokka still was looking out the window, his voice low and somber, but with a tone that was waltzing on thin ice, ready to crash. He continued on, “It’s Yue too. They both left me, not even giving me the chance to process. It’s happened so much during the war, people just leaving unannounced. Why is it still happening.”

Sokka turned from the window, looking Jin now right in the eyes. His eyes were bloodshot from the tears still falling, a mix of blues and reds sizing her up, practically asking her,  _ what do you know about loss? _

“I know,” Jin started without really thinking, grabbing a plum cookie for moral support,  “I know what it’s like. One day you have it: family, love, peace, and if it disappears, you can’t really process its absence until the shock in your stomach mellows out. My parents told me the day before they left that they were joining the Earth Kingdom troops to help outside the walls. They didn’t have to tell me they were going to war; I just knew. I remember staying calm, wishing them good night, and falling asleep. I woke up the next day alone. It felt like they were just on some vacation, that they would walk through the door next week.”

“A week passed. Then another week. I felt ok. But then one night I was struggling with cooking some rice or noodles or something. I can’t remember what it was now. But I was standing in the kitchen trying to stir these uncooked ingredients, and I couldn’t remember when to add the salt. And in that moment I wished Mom was there. That’s when it really hit me. She had left. Her and my dad, together. I just couldn’t stop crying. It was like all these emotions that I should’ve felt when they first told me were finally catching up, and I couldn’t escape.”

Jin looked up to find Sokka nodding in understanding, dipping a cookie into his milk, not minding the pieces of cookie disintegrating into the glass. At her pause, he prompted, “So? What did you do? To make it go away.”

“Probably just what you’ve been doing,” Jin wryly smiled, “gave myself time. Time to feel, to understand, to accept my emotions. I gave myself time to plan for the future, whatever it decided to hold. That’s what I do every time.”

“Every time?”

“...Yes.” Jin didn’t want to go further into it really, it was too soon, too fresh. She hadn’t had time to heal yet.

But Toph didn’t know that, so she asked in the softest voice, “What was the other time?” 

“It was a boy. I met him a month before the city was invaded. He worked at this tea shop I used to visit a lot in the lower ring. I can’t let my friends at home hear this because they’d make fun of me, but,” Jin chucked at the memory of the shop, of him, “he was cute. A little feisty, but genuinely kind to people simply because it was the right thing to do. No ulterior motive.”

“So you had the hots for a goody-two shoes?” This time it was Sokka that spoke, a small smirk gracing his lips. An attempt at a joke. The cookie in his hand had completely disintegrated into the milk from where the two met, but it seemed like he hadn’t noticed, too busy examining Jin’s face like he was trying to figure her out, trying to crack her.

Jin smiled, “Essentially.”

“So then what? Did he end up asking you out?”

“I actually asked him out. We went and got dinner. I took him sight-seeing across the lower ring because he was a recent refugee, taking him to this one fountain I really liked,” Jin pursed her lips, restricting herself from telling them both it all, how he’d lit the fountain for  _ her,  _ made her feel special. She couldn’t. She could only continue.

“Have you ever been standing with someone, and you look at them and think, ‘I feel safe here, wanted here. That’s thanks to you.’?” To Jin’s surprise, both Toph and Sokka silently nodded. “Well, that’s what I felt in that moment, and when I looked at him, I saw the same glow, and it all felt so, so perfect.” Jin could hear her voice falter. She held onto the milk glass. 

“I actually leaned in for a kiss. At first he got spooked and for some reason gave me a coupon for tea at the shop he worked at,” Jin laughed, tears welling up, “But then he finally let me, and he kissed back.”

“Then, it was gone, he stepped away, like he’d burned his hand on a stove or something. I asked what was wrong, but all he said was that it was complicated, and just like that, he was gone.” Jin looked at Sokka and Toph once more. She could feel tears falling, but for once, it felt like she was in control of her emotions. Like this midnight confession was her key to inner peace.

“I still think about that night, and how perfect it was until the very end when it went sour. I don’t think I’ve given myself the time to heal still, and it still hurts. But I think pain and loss comes in waves, like in a pond. When something hits a pond's surface, huge waves form. They disrupt the whole ecosystem, the ants at the shore don’t even have a chance to prepare. They can only hope they won’t drown, maybe holding a piece of driftwood, anything, to stay afloat. Eventually, that first big wave will disappear. Things will be at the normal levels for a moment, but the second wave from the splash will hit. Then a third, then a forth, and they don’t really stop, only giving breaks in between. But if you watch over time, those waves would space out more and more and they wouldn’t be as vigorous. The ants at the shore still might feel the effects of these smaller waves and still have to save themselves from drowning. Until one day, the waves are so small that they don’t affect the ants; they still might reach the shore, but they are so weak that the ants can simply watch them, unaffected. That’s how loss feels. When it first happens, it hurts like hell and for a long time. But you will start to have times where you don’t feel the pain. It might come back and hurt again, but that pain will be less. Over time, you can be like the ants, where instead of drowning in these waves of grief, you can just watch them from the shore. At peace.”

Jin stopped talking, and the trio was silent for a while, listening to the crickets in the grass outside instead. 

“You know, I think you’ve been spending too much time with Uncle,” Toph was the first to say, letting out a low whistle.

Jin smiled at that. From across the table, she watched as Sokka broke into a full grin. Nudging Toph with his shoulder, “Hey, now you know how it felt after you got tea with General Ir--  _ Ow!”  _

“Can it, loverboy. Jin, I’m sorry that dude, whoever it was, was such a jerk.” Toph had turned to Jin with puppy eyes (how does she do that???) after briefly sucker punching Sokka, who was still recovering from the blow. Toph asked, “Whatever was his name? Just in case I run into him in person.”

“It was Lee-- but wait,  _ please  _ don’t hurt him or anything!” Jin quickly followed up with. Spirits, she’d completely forgotten who she was talking to.

Toph laughed, “Babygirl, I don’t even know what he looks like. Don’t worry, I doubt I’ll ever find him.”

"Good. Not gonna lie, I actually kept the tea coupon from him. Other than the end, it was a perfect date night, so I guess once I'm over him, hopefully I'll be able to look at the coupon with fondness."

“But still,” Sokka, who had completely recovered from his crisis now, swelling disappearing from his eyes, said, “Lee from the tea shop is out there somewhere.”

“Hm, you’re right, Sokka. On second thought, let’s hunt him down together.”

“ _ No!” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god this took forever to write. Sorry for the delay. I just finished and proofread. Unfortunately, I think with the way this fic is turning out, suki isn't going to be featured as much as other characters. Not like I want Jin to be replacing her! Just might be a little tricky to include Suki as much, especially because Sokka and Suki aren't dating in this fic. I'll try my best tho! But also, I LOVE the idea of Toph Jin and Sokka just be a bit chaotic at the shop. Can't wait to write this next chapter.


	7. Echolocation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Echolocation. That's literally all I have to explain for this chapter sorry dudes.  
> Check out my friend's redbubble for some neat avatar stuff! [Here's the link!](https://www.redbubble.com/people/nadasri/shop)

“Jin, for the last time, I’m _not_ going to wear a blindfold and let you throw rocks at me. No stop-- hey! Rena, can’t you stop Jin? Please?”

“I’d rather not, thanks.”

Jin, who was successfully coercing Kiki, secured the blindfold. Once again, the day was perfect for a picnic, and the three practically jumped at the opportunity. Today was on the warmer side of the month. Autumn was whisking in loads of brisk weather, and so Rena suggested that they spend some time outside, since soon the cold weather would box them into the apartment. So here they were, in the plains outside the city, having a picnic. Well, Rena was having a picnic. Midterms at the academy were coming up, and she hadn’t looked up from her work the entire time Jin and Kiki bickered.

Kiki adjusted the blindfold, “Right. So Jin, your ‘friend’ told you I should be able to... _feel_ the earth?”

Jin nodded, “Yep! She called it ‘seismic sense’. Here. I’m holding some pebbles now. Try to guess where I’m throwing them.”

...

“Did you feel where that one went?”

Kiki spun in place, facing Jin. She sighed, “Jin, come on. How am I supposed to feel a fucking pebble? It’s stupid.”

“Shut up, no it’s not.”

“Kiki to be fair, you’re not even trying,” chimed in Rena, rolling her eyes (not like Kiki could see), “As a student, you’d legitimately be failing, or at least get a 1 for your effort grade.”

From the look of her forehead, Jin could see Kiki fuming. Rena always knew how to get to Kiki, once revealing that Kiki, despite her adamant nature, would bend through a key flaw: competition. Even if it’s against no one in particular.

“See? You have to at least try,” Jin piped up, “Otherwise what am I supposed to tell my friend? ‘Sorry dude, I tried to get my earthbending friend to use seismic sense, but it turns out she can’t do it. You might just be better than her.’”

The effect was marvelous. Kiki stayed silent, gears turning. Jin was ready to take off the blindfold to try another time, but Kiki sighed again. 

“Ok, fuck it you’re right. I can try.”

Kiki straightened up, assuming a training stance. Her face scrunched to concentrate.

“Jin? She said she feels with her feet, right?”

“Yep,” Jin watched as Kiki kicked off her shoes, tossing them toward the blanket. One flew close enough for Rena to swat away with her free hand.

Kiki was taking deep, meditative breaths. Her feet, now bare, dug into the earth, toes curling like she was holding onto the ground with her life. Her stance, crouched and rigid, barely moved except for her chest with each breath. After a couple moments, she spoke.

“I... think I see what she means? I can definitely feel the earth. It almost feels... alive,” she chuckled, shaking her head, “It’s really weird. Try tossing a rock now, anywhere.”

Jin, as quietly as she could, dropped a small stone to Kiki’s four-o-clock. It fell with an inaudible thud, muffled by the grass.

Kiki whirled around, pointing to the rock, “Oh shit! There it is!”

“You mean, you can actually ‘see’ it?” Rena had closed her workbook to watch Kiki too, her eyebrows raised in doubt, “Are you sure you didn’t hear it?”

Kiki shook her head, “No way. I was too focused. Jin--or I mean, Jin’s friend--is right. Here, Jin, go stand somewhere else, and I’ll find you.”

“Alright.” Jin moved away from Kiki, walking towards Rena to join her on the blanket.

As she sat, Rena called out, “Ok, Kiki, find her.”

Kiki shuffled around carefully, her feet never leaving the ground. While her stance still held its typical aggression, Jin couldn’t help but notice how Kiki’s movements reminded her of Toph’s. Kiki’s hair, due to the tussling with Jin, wasn’t holding up in her ponytail. While some strands of hair were falling onto her face, Kiki didn’t bother brushing them away from her face. 

“You’re on the blanket with Rena? I think I can feel out your shape there, also is there a shoe in front of me?”

Rena let out a low-whistle, “Damn Kiki. Yes, and yes.”

“Holy shit! Really?” Kiki whipped the blindfold off, squinting to adjust to the light. She couldn’t stop smiling, “Wait, this is the coolest thing. You guys remember that lesson where the zookeeper visited us and brought in a wolfbat in the second year to explain echolocation?” 

Jin and Rena nodded. After all, it had been a cool visit.

Kiki grabbed her shoes, making her way to the blanket to rest, “Yeah, so it’s like what echolocation is for them, but for me it’s through my feet. Does that make sense?”

Jin pursed her lips, trying to imagine it. From what she could remember, wolfbats were blind too, so it made sense. She looked down to where Kiki was now laying on the blanket, meeting Kiki’s eyes.

“Honestly, yeah. I can picture it.”

“Sorry I didn’t listen to you at first. I just hadn’t heard anything about this before, so I had some doubts,” Kiki laughed, “I mean, how did your friend figure this out?”

Jin hesitated, looking up at the horizon toward the outer wall. It’d been a couple weeks since Jin first met Toph and a week since she’d met Sokka. But Jin still hadn’t told Kiki or Rena about them. Of course, they knew Jin had made friends at the shop, but it’s one thing to know your friend is making friends at her job, but it's another thing to know that it means she’s entangling her life with literal war heroes.

“Jin hello? Hellooooo? Rena, what the fuck is Jin doing.”

“You know, I keep telling you this. If she doesn’t respond that means she’s dead, Kiki.”

“Shut up or I’ll seismic sense you the fuck up. JIN. WAKE UP.”

Jin snapped out of it, “Sorry sorry, I just got busy with my thoughts. What did you say?”

“I asked how your friend figured out seismic sense or whatever.”

“Oh right. Um,” Jin pursed her lips. Oh well, better late than never. “So, um. Can you both promise not to freak out?”

Kiki and Rena both frowned. They shared a glance.

Rena was the first to speak, “Of course Jin. What happened?”

“IbecamefriendswithtwoofthekidswhotookdowntheFireNationairfleetandalsotheyarefriendswiththeavatar.”

_“WHAT.”_

* * *

It took the rest of the day for Jin to explain herself Kiki and Rena had a lot of questions, and due to Jin’s prior secrecy, they expected answers to everything. Including (but not limited to):

“Is that why you asked me about the Beifongs that day?” (Yes)

“Are you ever scared of Toph, and that she’ll, like, beat you up or something?” (No)

“What was your reaction to realizing Toph was... that Toph?” (Same as you guys, honestly)

“How does Mushi know them?” (Not sure, and not my business)

“Someone tried to assassinate them?” (Multiple someones, and yes)

“How old are they?” (Our age and younger)

 _“Some of them are younger than us??”_ (*sigh* Yeah. Toph and the avatar are, at least)

By the time Kiki and Rena were satisfied, the sun had already begun to dip down below the city walls behind their picnic blanket, and the clouds above had a rosy blush. Jin was exhausted. 

“So, you’re telling me Toph, that girl who can bend metal, told you to teach me seismic sense?”

Jin shrugged, “More or less. She mentioned it to me that first night I met her, but I was hesitant to try because she wanted me to blindfold you and just chuck rocks at you,” Kiki eyes widened in surprise, but Jin rambled on “After she explained how she taught Aang, I got a better sense at what to do to try and teach you. I’m actually REALLY excited to tell her that you figured it out.”

Kiki cocked her head, “Who’s Aang?”

“The current Avatar,” Rena offered. She had stopped asking a majority of questions an hour or so ago, allowing Kiki to ask whatever else she was curious about. While Kiki had continued the interrogation, Rena resumed her work for the students’ midterms, sometimes butting in when she felt like it.

“Holy shit. Jin, does that mean you could meet the Avatar?”

“Honestly maybe. Toph and Sokka keep bugging me to join them in ‘adventures’ when I’m off the clock. But right now, Aang and Katara aren’t in the city. I think Toph told me they were in the Fire Nation with Firelord Zuko helping him with the power shift.”

“That’s the new Firelord, right? Zuko?” Rena asked. Jin nodded, and Rena scribbled in the margin of her notes.

Kiki let out a puff of air, “Damn, from the way you describe it, Jin, it sounds like Firelord Zuko had a whole ass hero’s journey this last year.”

“Yeah. It’s impressive for sure. I hope he’s able to ease tensions in the Fire Nation. He seems like a genuinely nice guy once he joined Toph and the group.”

“What are the odds he’s cute? Maybe you should get Toph to set you up with him. Oh man, Rena could you imagine! We’d be royalty by default!”

Jin laughed, and Kiki and Rena joined in. A sense of relief washed over her. It felt nice to finally discuss this part of her life with them. No secrets. The three of them laughed at Kiki’s joke for a while before Jin finally spoke.

“Nah, you guys know I’m not interested in being set up. But if I accidentally bumped into him while in the upper ring? Not opposed to it,” she winked, causing Kiki and Rena to erupt in another fit of giggles, “but I’m not sure if he’s cute either. Toph was telling me how his dad burned his face in an Agni Kai, so apparently his face is ‘all sorts of messed up,’ according to her.”

“Oh shit, that’s intense. Did Toph describe how messed up--”

Kiki yelped as Rena swatted at her, “Dipshit. Toph is _blind._ How’s she going to describe it.”

“One of these days I’m calling the Dai Li on you and reporting child abuse.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I am genuinely sorry this chapter is 1) short and 2) took so long to write! I think I was having trouble with where to go after introducing Sokka, but I think I know at least what direction to take this for the next couple chapters. I'll try to be better in writing and updating. Also, yes I'm aware Zuko and Jin STILL haven't met but just. please. trust the process.


	8. Meanwhile...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile...

While Jin and her friends watched the sky’s colors change from their picnic blanket, across the ocean, the sun had begun to rise, shedding a new day’s light on Caldera. The city itself was still quiet. A handful of vendors and city residents were out at this early hour. At the ports, naval ships docked with dozens of troops unloading. Many of them soldiers returning home for the first time in years, tears in their eyes. The journey home must’ve been beautiful, to see the sun rise over the home archipelago. Of course, not everyone was enjoying the morning to such an extent.

Zuko and Aang watched as Katara stumbled into the royal private kitchen. She reached for a mango tart from the counter, nibbling on it as she grabbed a cup and began bending tea from the pot by the pastry tray.

“Um, Katara. Would you like a plate?” Aang offered.

“WHATTHEFUCK” Katara jumped at the voice, dropping her beloved tart and tea to the floor. Zuko and Aang bursted out in laughter, wheezing while Katara stood there, fuming, “Aang! Stop doing that! It’s so fucking annoying.”

“Sorry sweetie,” Aang cooed, getting up to water bend the mess and making her a new cup, “It is just too funny. Zuko and I had bets for when you’d walk in.”

“It’s true.” Zuko admitted, hiding a smile behind his cup of tea.

Katara shook her head, taking the cup and a new tart and sitting at the table with the two boys. Zuko requested the private kitchen free of cooks for the time being so give the three some solitude. It was a security measure anyways.

“How’s the wound?”

“Fine, it only hurts when I use my core now.”

Katara nodded, “Yeah, I can see that happening for a while unfortunately. I don’t think my healing can make it any better. Only time now.”

“Makes sense. I can’t thank you enough for all that you’ve done to help me.”

“Of course,” she smiled, “Have you and Aang talked about what to do next regarding... safety measures?”

Aang shifted in his seat, “Kinda, we’ve just been talking about everything that happened yesterday. I wanted to wait for you before telling Zuko this.”

Zuko frowned, “Tell me what?”

“Ok Zuko, hear me out on this.”

“I’m listening, Aang.”

“So this was the  _ eighth  _ assasination attempt since your inauguration.”

“Yes.”

“That’s too many!”

“...and how am I supposed to fix that?” Zuko dryly laughed, shaking his head, “Should I let them assassinate me so they stop trying?”

“No, that’s not what Aang’s saying,” Katara began slowly, “We talked about it last night, and well, what if you left the Fire Nation for a bit?”

_ “Excuse me???” _

“Zuko, let her finish--”

“No! That’s not an option!” Zuko was shouting now, “I’m not abandoning my people again!”

“That’s not what we’re saying!” Katara shouted back, “Shut up and listen. You’d still be giving out orders, albeit remotely, but if you aren’t in the Fire Nation for a couple months, that could keep you safe while Aang and I track down this resistance group.”

“Yeah, no one in the city would know you aren’t here except for the members of the White Lotus here and us. That’s basically the only people you’d been seeing these days anyways. Oh and Mai of course would know.”

“No,” Zuko began, shaking his head, grimacing from pain. Spirits, was it from the scar or the memory? He continued, “No need to tell her. She sent me a letter yesterday that things aren’t going to work out.”

Aang and Katara froze, eyebrows raised. A moment of silence graced the table. Finally, Katara spoke.

“Seriously? Why?”

“It was all too much for her. The assassinations, the meetings, just the overall pressure.” Zuko sighed, “I don’t really want to talk about that. I understand why you guys want me to leave the Fire Nation for a bit.”

“You do?” They said in unison.

“But where do you guys want me to go?”

“Well,” Aang pulled a map from god knows where. Did his robe have pockets? “You actually have a couple places you can consider for your, um, ‘hiatus,’ if you want to hear those first.”

“Go for it.”

“Ok so our first thought was that you could go stay with Suki at Kyoshi Island.”

“Not Kyoshi Island. Remember when I almost burnt down the village? Because I’ll bet the villagers do.”

“Ok yeah, not ideal,” Katara shifted to look at the map with Aang, “How about the water tribe?”

“North or South?”

“Either, honestly.”

“Definitely not the South. Remember, I  _ attacked  _ you guys,” Zuko said, “As for the North, maybe, but I’d rather not. Cold weather would affect my training.”

“The Swamp?”

“Oh spirits no.”

“How about the Western Air Temple?”

“I’d rather  _ not  _ be completely alone for months.”

“But we can’t keep somewhere with too many people either. If someone recognizes you as Firelord and word gets out, our plan is fucked.”

Zuko leaned back, rubbing his temples. He didn’t have to look at the sympathy plastered on his friends’ faces to know this situation was going to suck ass no matter what course of action he took. To find a place where no one knew he was Firelord was already close to impossible, no thanks to the coronation that had taken place and everyone’s eagerness to share the news. No, everyone knew that Zuko was Firelord. But what if...

And like lightening, an idea struck Zuko with a force that practically startled him out of his chair.

“Wait, I just remembered.”

Katara raised her eyebrow, “What?”

“The newspapers. We opted out of including my picture.”

“...Yeah, because you were stubborn and didn’t want to wait for the artist to make a drawing. So what?”

Aang’s eyes widened in realization, “Katara, Zuko is onto something. The newspapers talked about Zuko’s coronation and assination attempts and reformations, but they never include his face.”

Katara stilled, “But even then, the people know who Zuko is.”

“Yeah, but those are only people I introduced myself to as Zuko. When I was traveling as a refugee with Uncle, we gave fake names everywhere, and it worked!”

“You’re kidding. Is that why you were able to run the fucking tea shop?”

“Yea! Well, until you saw us, but that’s because you already knew who I was. Besides you guys and Uncle, no one in Ba Sing Se knew who I was.”

“Are you suggesting what I think you are?”

“Yes, I think I should stay in Ba Sing Se.” Katara open her mouth to argue, but Zuko continued, “Uncle is there, still undercover as Mushi. It would be easy for me to stay with him again as Lee. Toph and Sokka are in the city too, so I’ll have plenty of backup in case anything goes wrong.”

Aang nodded, “That makes sense. Mail travels between Ba Sing Se and Caldera fairly quickly too, so that shouldn’t be a problem. You’d be roughly a day behind on situations, but that might be the fastest response rate we can muster. Besides, Toph, Sokka, and Uncle then, who would recognize you as Zuko?”

“No one, I introduced myself as Lee everywhere.”

“Right, and no one knew you were from the Fire Nation?”

Zuko shifted uneasily. “Well, not quite,” he admitted, “Jet saw Uncle heat up some tea, remember?”

“Oh yeah, you told us about that on Ember Island, but considering his, um,  _ absence,  _ that’s not going to be an issue,” Katara said.

“IAlsoFirebentForThisGirlIWentOutWithOnce”

“You  _ WHAT. _ ”

“Um. Yeah. This girl asked me out while I was in the city, and Uncle made me go out with her.”

Katara and Aang sat in shock, their jaws hanging out. Zuko sighed, “Oh come on now, its not  _ that  _ surprising, is it?”

Katara shook her head as if to clear her thoughts, “Well, no, it's surprising. But what I’m not understanding is  _ how do you firebend during a date? _ ”

“Oh right. She took me to this fountain with candles but they were all out. She was pretty bummed out, so I told her to close her eyes and I just lit them up.”

“Is this actually the pre-redemption-arc Zuko we’re talking about here?”

“Awwwwww,” Aang cooed, “That’s so romantic! I didn’t know Zuko had a soft spot like that!”

“Stop it!” he snapped, which only seemed to make Katara and Aang laugh. Seriously, what was up with these people? He let out an exasperated sigh, “Ok fine. Whatever. Anyways, I don’t think she’ll be an issue. She lives in the lower ring, so I doubt I’ll run into her. Even then, I don’t think she’d snitch or even connect the dots. I mean, if a random person firebending was unbelievable, imagine finding out that person is actually someone important, you know? It just doesn’t sound real.”

“Katara, I think we have to let Zuko go to Ba Sing Se. We can’t get in the way of love.”

“It’s not love!”

“Well, how was the date? Nice right?”

Zuko sputtered, “Well, I mean- I don’t know if- Fine yes the date was good, happy I admit it? But it doesn’t actually mean I’m going there for her. She was great, but if I had kept dating her it would’ve just been a lie. You guys know I wasn’t myself in that city back then,” he sighed, “I just want to be there and blend in. It’ll be nice, at least nicer than the other locations. Then once Aang can settle the loyalist forces here, I’ll return to the public eye here in Caldera for good. Happy?”

Katara shrugged, “Sounds good to me, although maybe we should send you off with some nice perfume and mouthwash,” she winked, “just in case.”

Zuko groaned, facepalming. It was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hi yes I have posted an update! This semester has been chaotic for me, but with thanksgiving break I was able to return for a chapter. Heads up though, might not be able to write until my finals are done, so I'll probably be back in 3 weeks! Until then, let me know your thoughts on the chapter.


	9. Wanted for: Cookie Thievery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A filler chapter tbh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year! I'm done w finals. I have written this. Hope you like it. More drama will ensue shortly lol sorry if this ch is shit I need to get back into the hang of writing :)

The sun rose over the upper ring, and Iroh sat in the middle of his kitchen, leafing through the week’s mail. It rarely was anything important since he’d turned down the position the Order of the White Lotus offered him. They’d quickly taken the hint, along with everyone else, that Iroh was tired of politics. Shortly after denying the Order’s request, Iroh went through the efforts of erasing his tracks from almost everyone. It had been a long, tiresome, time, and Iroh figured he was due for some peace and quiet. Only a select few knew his whereabouts, and even then he had once again picked up the name Mushi.

Nowadays, instead of letters with royal insignias and diplomatic invitations, Iroh’s mail mainly consisted of plain white envelopes regarding taxes and a few friends within the city. Every once in a while, he’d even received a pastel green envelope from Tycho with a coupon for the spa for a free massage.

So, when Iroh noticed a stiff brown envelope in the mail, sealed in red wax and addressed to the name Mushi with “Uncle” crossed out before it, his curiosity was piqued, to say the least.

Iroh carefully ripped the envelope, revealing a few pages of royal palace stationary. Ah of course, Zuko had written to him, and quite a bit at that! Settling back in his chair, a cup of tea in hand, Iroh began to read:

> _ Uncle, _
> 
> _ I’m sorry I haven’t reached out in the past couple of months. I’m not sure if you heard, but there was another assassination attempt during the winter solstice. Obviously I am alright, but Aang and Katara reasoned with me that I should leave Caldera for a bit so Aang can try to quell the Loyalists. As a place of residence, we decided Ba Sing Se was the best option, as you, Toph, and Sokka are in the city. I can resume my identity as Lee as well, as no one in the city knew me as Zuko. I will continue leading the Fire Nation from abroad of course. I’m sure you’re aware of the speedy correspondence between Caldera and Ba Sing Se, so long term plans can still be decided by me. As for emergencies, I’m delegating that to Katara for the time being. _
> 
> _ This arrangement should not last more than a few months, but regardless I’m excited to spend some time with you, Uncle. I will be arriving by ferry this Friday morning as Lee, and I hope to see you at the docks (I may need help with customs). _
> 
> _ Hope to see you soon, _
> 
> _ Your nephew _

Iroh set down the letter, pouring more tea for himself. Well, that was certainly not the news he was anticipating this morning. After hearing about the previous assassination attempts, the incident during the winter solstice was no surprise. There were bound to be noblemen and generals that supported Ozai’s reign, and while most of them were taken care of, there were a couple that still were about causing trouble for Zuko.

_ Avatar Aang, young as he may be, will have no issue in resolving these conflicts,  _ Iroh mused, packing a few items for the shop,  _ yet, it still will be some time until Zuko can return to Caldera. _

Iroh left a little earlier than usual. He had a bit of prep to do before Friday.

* * *

In the recent week, Sokka visits the Jasmine Dragon on a daily basis, and Jin knows it's not for the tea. It’s pretty clear since Sokka will only order milk and cookies while sitting in a corner.

“I’m not too busy this week, and since that first visit, I haven’t gotten those cookies off my mind,” Sokka pointed out to Jin on a particularly idle day, “The chocolate ones could probably make me nut, single-handedly.”

Jin had just laughed, “Glad to hear you like them! I recommended this one bakery from the lower ring to Uncle. Makes me happy to see it’s worth the commute.”

After the first run-in, neither of them brought up that midnight conversation ever again, but from what Jin observed, Sokka wasn’t doing too poorly. Occasionally, she caught him staring out the window with a troubled look on his face, reminiscing. Yet it never was for long, and Sokka would snap out of the trace in due time.

When the shop wasn’t particularly busy or just closed, Jin would sit with Sokka to read or chat. He was way easier to talk with than Toph, Jin realized. Not like she’d ever bring this point up to either of them, mind you, she didn’t have a death wish. But while Toph would always have a set of points to bring up to Jin for the day, Sokka didn’t have any particular plans, just a lot of reading from what Jin could tell.

“Honestly I’m not complaining. The rest of the group has so much responsibility they’ve taken up, and like I guess I could also be getting into the post-war politics if I really wanted to, but its kind of unnecessary,” he told Jin, “My dad is the chief of the Southern Water Tribe, and he and the other men returned home after Zuko’s coronation. He told me that they had things covered since they all were headed back home, so I wouldn’t have to return unless I really wanted to.”

“And you don’t?” 

“Well I didn’t initially because I was hoping to spend more time with Suki,” Sokka continued, ignoring Jin’s subtle reaction to the name, “Now that’s things are over between us though, I guess I just want to give myself time away from most of my pre-war life. Get to explore my youth a little bit, you know?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“How about you? Any post-war plans in mind?”

“Nah nothing crazy, I considered the idea of leaving the city and society to live somewhere real peaceful and full of nature. Issue with that is I don’t have the resources for something like that, and also I’m not even sure where I’d go.”

Toph’s voice made the two of them jump, “Oh I’ve had that same thought before! You know, my dream place is this big swamp that’s just north of Gaoling. I never got to visit but from what I could tell it’s huge!”

Sokka yelped, “Toph! I thought you had meetings at the palace today, what happened?”

“Meetings suck. Jin and you don’t. But also today was a little different. Before I can start opening a metalbending school, I have to learn how to, well, teach. I’m shadowing some training sessions that the palace holds for new recruits, so today ended early for them and ergo me,” Toph moved to sit at the table, swiping a cookie before Sokka could protest.

“I think one of my friends attends those. It’s the same girl I showed your seismic sense to.“

“You’re kidding! What was her name again?”

“Kiki. She’s really cool, and I gotta introduce the two of you--”

Jin didn’t finish her promise, because a familiar voice boomed across the shop as the one and only Kiki Laghari entered. She came in a frenzy, eyes aflame and searching, with some long lost energy running through her veins.

“ _JIN_! Where’s Jin? I gotta tell her something-- Oh Jin, there you are! Dude you aren’t gonna believe who I met today at the palace.”

“I think I can already imagine,” Jin shifted her stance to reveal a Toph to Kiki’s line of sight, prompting Kiki to groan.

“Ah fuck, seriously? Dammit I wanted to surprise you with the news. Guess I came up too late though,” she playfully rolled her eyes.

Toph swiped another cookie from Sokka, ignoring his protest, “Yeah I’ll say. What took you so long?”

“Had to clean up and get my life together,” Kiki explained, pulling up a seat to the table to sit, “I’m not a fan of the uniform they make us wear, it’s too stiff to relax in, so I always change into my regular attire before heading out. Also, coming from the lower ring, the reputation for working at the palace is a bit different. Instead of ‘Wow! You’re so cool and respectable!’, you can expect someone to spit on you during your commute, so I try to avoid that reputation as someone who people should spit on.”

Kiki proceeded to swipe a cookie from the plate on the table, which made Sokka, who was partly engrossed in his book, protest again.

“Toph stop it! I paid good money for these!” He snapped, a face of bewilderment washing over as he looked up and realized this time it wasn’t in fact Toph who had stolen a cookie. Sokka’s brows furrowed as he watched Kiki plop the cookie into her mouth, a smile pasted across.

“Wait, who are you?”

“Hm, I suppose we haven’t been introduced. I’m Jin’s friend, Kiki.”

She reached out a hand across the table. Sokka hesitated, but returned the gesture.

“Sokka, nice to meet you, but did you really have to steal a cookie?”

“Yeah, sweetcheeks, I did.”

_ “Sweetcheeks??” _

“Jin, could you be a dear and get some coffee for me?” Kiki glanced at Jin, a knowing look twinkling in her eyes. Jin understood.

“I think we have some instant powder in the back. Toph, want to come with?”

“Yep.”

* * *

“What was  _ that  _ about?”

The two of them were in the back room now. Jin searched aimlessly for some instant coffee.

“I’m starting to think we might not even have coffee at the tea shop. Oopsie.”

“Jin I’m serious, what did I just witness at that table?”

Jin sighed, “Kiki has the hots for Sokka.”

“Like she likes him?”

“Well not ‘like’ necessarily. They did just meet after all. But it’s pretty clear that Kiki thinks he’s cute.”

“Hm, interesting. Not gonna lie I did consider the possibility of me setting you up with Sokka as a rebound, but this probably works out better.”

Jin laughed, sliding to the floor, “Oh for sure. Sokka might be attractive, but he’s much more a friend to me than anything else.”

“Fair point. You know,” Toph began, sliding to the floor next to Jin, “don’t tell anyone this, but I also had to talk to the Earth King today.”

“What for?”

“Again, don’t repeat this anywhere.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Firelord Zuko is going undercover for a little bit here.”

“ _ The Firelord?  _ Why? _ ” _

“Isn’t that crazy? There’s still a lot of Ozai Loyalists in Caldera, so to avoid getting murdered, Zuko is gonna rule from abroad. But also no one is going to know, probably like 50 people max.”

“Poor kid. Assassins in such a peaceful time? It’s ridiculous. And hey,” Jin got up, reaching in the back of a shelf and pulling out a jar, “I found the instant coffee!”

“Nice, should we head out then?”

“Might as well. But seriously, don’t tell anyone about Zuko. I just wanted to give you a heads up in case you see someone new around.”

Jin laughed, opening the door for Toph, “Ha! As if I’d ever meet him. Now come, we need to make sure Kiki and Sokka aren’t making out on the storefront.”

* * *

They weren’t. But it was also getting late, so Toph and Sokka headed out shortly after Jin served Kiki her coffee. Once they were alone, Jin went into interrogation mode.

“So. Sokka huh?”

“He’s a cutie. I asked him to spar with me sometime this weekend.”

“How do you spare a non bender though? Seems a little unfair.”

“A little, but there’s ways to adjust. One option would be to blindfold me, or handicap me in some way. But you got to remember that Sokka is an insanely good fighter. Personally I think I might just pick up my tulwar again for sparing him. Like, will he kick my ass? Yes. But do I want him to do more than just kick my ass?” Kiki took a long sip of coffee, tossing a wink, “Maybe.”

“Did he seem into you?”

“Honestly? Not sure either way. He wasn’t not interested, if that makes sense. But he seemed really hesitant. Try not to think this is creepy, but when he looked up at me, his heartbeat started to pick up, and it stayed that way.”

“What’d you guys talk about?”

“Oh just this and that. I asked about what he was up to. He showed me the book on weaponry he was reading. We talked about sparring. The works. I don’t know. I don’t really care if we start dating or whatever, but I do want to be his friend, so we’ll start there.”

“Smart move, would you want a pack of cookies to give to him as an apology?”

“I would, but I’d probably eat them before they got to him.”

“Fair point.”


	10. Welcome to Ba Sing Se

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Ba Sing Se, Firelord Zuko (or, Lee from the tea shop)

It was Friday morning, and Sokka regretted ever allowing Zuko to join Team Avatar. 

For you see, Zuko joining Team Avatar created a chain reaction of events that now has Sokka awake at this cursed time, before the sun even came up.

“Sokka, please, do not fall asleep while we are waiting for my nephew.”

“Hmpf--” Sokka jolted up, straightening himself up, “Sorry, General! Didn’t mean to, it’s just... 5:30 am? Zu-- I mean, Lee couldn’t find a ferry that docked at a later time?”

“It’s possible, but I suppose it’s reasonable that he wanted to leave as soon as possible. I appreciate your word choice. It’s critical for the future that this... situation is not revealed to anyone beyond our extremely close friends and allies.”

“Right. Sorry. So, in terms of housing, are you certain Lee can stay with you? I’m happy to have him stay with Toph and me at the old home.”

“It’s incredibly kind of you to offer, but I don’t think my input alone will be sufficient for that decision,” Iroh chuckled, hailing a tea cart over to where they were standing on the port.

The colors peaked between the clouds scattered across the horizon. Sokka and General Iroh stood at the base of one of the docks. Zuko’s boat was scheduled to arrive at dock 5, and by the time the two of them had departed the train to the port, they could see the massive ship looming over, gently bobbing to the ocean’s rhythm. It was simply a matter of waiting until “Lee” was able to depart the ship.

“Gotcha. I’ll ask him while we’re on our way back. What section did he board in?”

“Economy,” Iroh exchanged the coins with the tea-boy for a small paper cup, steam wafting in stark contrast to the cool morning air, “It’s the least likely crowd to identify him.”

“Really? How is that... possible? I feel like it’s not hard to recognize  _ him. _ ”

“Ah, I see what you’re alluding to,” Iroh waved the tea-boy away, taking a test sip of the brew and nodding in satisfaction.

“As I’m sure you’re aware, Sokka, many people--if not all--have heard of your travels with Avatar Aang this summer. Yet, how often have people stopped you on the street to ask you about them?”

“Uh, never, but I’m also not the current Firelord.”

“Don’t forget that Zuko was banished for nearly 4 years before this, and the last portrait of him available to the public is him at the age of 10. Without the royal attire, only a handful of people know what the new Firelord looks like.”

Sokka squinted into the distance, “Ok that makes sense, so just making sure, that’s Lee walking towards us now?”

* * *

Stepping off the boat, the first thing Zuko felt was how much colder it was. Without any volcanoes nearby, the temperatures in the Earth Kingdom and surrounding areas dipped lower in the autumn. It was something Zuko had forgotten about until last night, when he’d woken up in the sleeping quarters in the middle of the night, shivering like a real madman, and he was forced to wrap himself in more layers. Now, in the open outdoors, the ocean breeze carried the cool weather throughout the port, and the sun peaking over the horizon gently embraced his skin. Nice.

The trip itself was fine, nothing unusual. He’d made this journey with Uncle some months ago, and while some things were different, like ferry food service and quality between first and economy class, the travel itself was the same. Zuko kept to himself, taking time to read some Sun Warrior scrolls and practice his combat forms on the open deck. He hadn’t packed much; leaving the boat, he had a simple knapsack slung over his shoulder along with his Dao swords that neatly rested over the other side. Exiting with a crowd of exuberated refugees and tourists, Zuko searched the pier for his uncle.

“Well well well, is that Lee  _ from the tea shop?” _

“Sokka! Good to see you.”

Sokka flung himself at the young Firelord, hugging tightly and knocking the breath out of Zuko.

He whispered into Zuko’s ear, “Good to see you too, Mr. I-Have-Dodged-Death-At-Least-Eight-Times.”

“Considering the war, eight is definitely an underestimate.”

“That’s why I said  _ at least _ , duh.”

“Ok fine, sure. Where’s Uncle? I was expecting him to help me through customs.”

“Yea, he’s in line already. We parted once we saw you for efficiency. He’s this way, come on!”

Sokka weaved through the crowd with Zuko close behind, who was trying (and occasionally failing) to avoid hitting others with his luggage or Dao sword handles. Soon, they came to customs, and Zuko felt himself smile as he saw Uncle waving from the line.

“Well if it isn’t Lee my nephew from the tea shop!”

Hearing that Sokka cackled, and Zuko shook his head smiling, “Ok, now I definitely know you guys planned that,” he bowed and hugged Iroh, “Uncle, how have you been?”

“Better, now that you are here with Sokka and I!”

They waited in line, catching up from the last couple months. Soon, they reached the front of the line, and Iroh went up to the counter, letting Zuko and Sokka wait behind.

“Watch him finesse my Dao swords in.”

“I was wondering about those! I’m surprised they let you travel here with them.”

“It’s not too hard to travel with them, only if you visit a ton of customs desk like these. Really not concerned though when I’m with Uncle, you should’ve seen him when we first took the ferry! He somehow talked up the ticket booth lady into giving us tickets for an already full ship. Also of course, if all else fails, I’m sure he’d be willing to indulge the official by telling them who we are--”

“Pardon me, but could I ask you something?”

Sokka and Zuko spun around to the voice, which came from the little girl behind them. She was from the Earth Kingdom, and her parents and older brother were just behind her in line, distracting in conversation. Her round face was puzzled as she looked up at the two of them. Well, actually, only at Zuko.

_ Only at Zuko,  _ Sokka realized,  _ Oh no she’s figured it out we’re doomed we’re fucked oh man this was good while it lasted oh god oh spirits not even Iroh can save us now. _

“Are you the Firelord?”

_ Oh my god, she just asked it like that?! She knows. She KNOWS. Fuckkkkkkkk. _

Zuko laughed, brushing his hair aside, “Oh man, I wish, but unfortunately the scar’s on the wrong side.”

“Oh, ok!”

A voice came from behind, “Juli,  _ what  _ are you bothering those young men about? Come back here!”

As Juli ran back to her calling Mom, Sokka gawked at Zuko, who was waving politely to the mom and girl until he looked over to Sokka.

“What?”

“How did you come up with an excuse that quickly? I really thought we were toast there.”

“Oh uh, actually it’s something a kid on Ember Island told me during intermission at that one play.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Uncle is calling us over, come now,” Zuko and Sokka walked to Iroh, who was grinning with some crisp documents in hand, “Sokka, you need to remember that people don’t really know what I look like. I mean, that kid from Ember Island was  _ Fire Nation,  _ and even in Caldera, our journey has already been spun into some childish bedtime story for the general public.”

“Fair enough.”

The trio made their way to the train station, catching up and making small talk. Soon, the train arrived at the platform, allowing them to hop on. Most of the passengers from the ferry were still in customs, so the cabin still had comfortable seating, which Iroh happily took advantage of to nap. Zuko and Sokka stood by him, holding onto the handrails as the train rocked gently while heading to the city.

“Oh man, I’m so excited you’re gonna be in the city! This is gonna be awesome,” Sokka bubbled, “I was asking Uncle this, but would you be interested in staying with Toph and I? Totally up to you, don’t want to rush you into anything! Just wanted to offer that in case you didn’t want to stay with Uncle.”

Zuko smiled, seeing the city walls come into view, “No worries Sokka, thanks for offering. I think for now I’ll stay with Uncle just to get used to everything. He might also need some help at the Tea Shop after all, since Lee hasn’t been available, hehe.”

Sokka laughed, “Oh Uncle didn’t tell you? He hired someone new; she’s from the lower ring but man! She makes the best tea and is so cool. Sometimes Toph and I just hang out there to spend time with her, in fact, we were there the other day and one of  _ her  _ friends came by, and--”

Sokka began to blush and mumble. Real sauve of you, Sokka.

“Sokka? You’re mumbling. What happened?”

“I think her friend--Kiki, I think? I think she asked me out. I’m hanging out with her later today actually, gonna spar a little.”

“Oh? Do you like her?”

Sokka huffed, “I’m not sure, honestly. She’s definitely a catch, no doubt, but I’m not sure if we’d vibe in a relationship way. She was flirting a little with me, but this hang out could easily just be as friends, and I’m totally fine with that! Not going to lie, when she first asked me to hang out, I got nervous because it’d been  _ so long  _ since I’d met someone new in a... flirty sense, you know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Sorry to hear about you and Suki, by the way.”

“Hey, it happens, not the end of the world or whatever. Better this than being led on, am I right? Anyways, enough about me, how are you and Mai doing long distance for the time being? Is she planning to visit?”

Now it was time for Zuko to blush. Real suave of you, Zuko.

“Um, I wouldn’t know. She dumped me.”

“ _ WHAT? _ When?!”

“Earlier this week, after the assassination attempt.”

“Whatever, she’s a bitch. Unless you guys get back together. Then she’s not a bitch,” Sokka shook his head, bewildered, “Man! I’m sorry to hear that dude. That’s gotta be tough.”

“It is what it is. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see it coming,” Zuko sighed, shifting his weight to adjust to the train slowing down as the train entered through the first wall.

“Well, on the silver-lining here, Ba Sing Se is like, 50% girls. I’m sure a night or two on the town will help you move on a bit.”

Zuko laughed at the comment, picturing a trashed Sokka flirting with the ladies. He could feel the tension easing in his shoulders.

“That’s fair. I actually did go on a date while in the city before Azula took over.”

“No way, seriously? You had the time?”

“I guess. The girl asked me out, and I couldn’t say no. Uncle practically pushed me into it. It was fun though, she was a sweet girl. Too bad things couldn’t work at the time, with Mai and the war and my existential crisis from freeing Appa. We actually kissed, but it was so overwhelming to my brain I just had to leave. I feel bad about it now, maybe I should visit the Lower Ring to find her and apologize.”

“Damn I literally can’t see you on a date. What was the girl’s name?”

“I think her name was Jin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! Don't mean to leave you all on a cliffhanger like this! I just couldn't wait to add this to the story, so the next chapter will pick up off of the predicament this is creating. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated, and I look forward to writing and adding on more soon!


End file.
